Terrene
by Aeneid
Summary: AU. Legendary Pokemon are revered as gods. She committed a grave mistake. Now, she has to pay the price and suffer the consequences. Ikarishipping.
1. Prologue

Hello everyone! I'm writing yet another fic for the Pokemon fandom, but this time, its for Ikarishipping! Hope you all like it!

By the way, this fic is like a companion piece to Ethreal. :3

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Terrene

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Prologue

* * *

_Decades ago, Sinnoh had been ruled in a just manner._

_It may have been because of the way the Kaiser had chosen to rule his empire, for he wanted his people to live happily in a just society. _

_It was Utopia._

_The citizens love the Kaiser, and he loved them in return. For him, they were like his children. For them, he was the father who loved all his children equally._

_However, the ultraconservative right did not agree with the way the Kaiser ruled. In the days of the old, they said, Kaisers ruled with an iron fist. They had even gone as far as to compare their empire with Hoenn, who, at that time, had a sadist for an Emperor._

_However, times have changed._

_Before, Kaisers had total authority over everything._

_They rival the summoners when it comes to having an authority over the gods._

_They rival the lawmakers when it came to politics, choosing only the best laws that would benefit only them._

_Their lavish lifestyle made the poor even poorer._

_This arrogance of theirs only ceased when the gods Dialga and Palkia deemed them unfit to be summoned by someone as greedy and corrupt as they were. Using their power, they have placed a complicated tattoo-like seal on the Kaiser's whole back. The purpose of this, they say, was for a Kaiser to learn total obedience. A summoner was to have complete authority over him, for she possessed the power of the gods._

_This led to the long-standing tradition of Kaisers marrying a summoner chosen by the deities._

_The marriage was a partnership like no other. Both had benefitted from it, and through this, the Kaisers learned how to treat their subordinates. More often than not, Kaisers and summoners fall in love in the course of their marriage._

_However, the heir of the current Kaiser thought otherwise._

_His name was Shinji, and he thought it was ridiculous for a man to show subservience to a woman. Especially since his father was the ruler of all Sinnoh, he was not used to the idea._

_At age twelve, he made a promise to himself._

_He will not rely on a summoner._

_He will not fall for a summoner._

_He will make sure that the summoner meant for him is to be killed._

-----

Six years later…

"Are the accommodations for the summoner to her liking?"

Hikari ignored the sarcasm of the dungeon guard and looked away. Currently, she was at the Veilstone Royal Palace's dungeon, being treated like a prisoner. How could the Kaiser do this to her? After all that she had done to remove the seal on his back, she becomes a criminal?

_This is my fault. If only I didn't fall for that trick…!_

It was too late for regrets now.

He had Darkrai under his command now, and there was nothing she could do about it. She still did not have Cresselia, so if the Kaiser will use Nightmare on her…

She shuddered in fear. She didn't want that to happen.

"Hey, answer me!" cried the guard.

"No." she said stubbornly.

The reply nearly cost her her life.

She suddenly got a whip lashed at her back.

It stung, but it wasn't enough to make her cry out in pain.

"Will the summoner talk? Or will she be more stubborn than ever?" taunted the dungeon guard, playful hitting the whip against the palm of his other hand. "Well?"

"The summoner answers to no one but the gods of Sinnoh." Suddenly, her sapphire-colored eyes turned yellow gold. "And you, mere mortal, do not have the right to treat the summoner this way."

With that, the summoner stood up and aimed her palm right in front of the guard's face. "Confusion."

Though the attack may have been called 'weak', it was not the case for humans. One blast of psychic energy was enough to render the person unconscious, and the side effect of such an attack was temporary insanity. The unfortunate person had to be hospitalized for a month or so before going back to duty.

Because of this, the Kaiser had to enforce stricter measures.

He had Hikari move to a different cell wherein her wrists and ankles were to be chained against the wall. She was also to be rendered unconscious for most of the time, only waking up when she was to eat a small bowl of gruel to keep her alive and to take a bath, which consisted of splashing dirty water on her whole body. As a result, she reeked of prison stench, but that did not hinder the tortures she had to undergo.

When she would not sleep, the beatings and the lashings would happen.

Her once smooth complexion was now marred with scars and fresh wounds. The clothes that she wore before her captivity, which consisted of a sleeveless black vest, white tube top, pink short skirt, red scarf and while parka hat were either torn or dirty. Her whole body was dirty.

As much as she wants to escape, she knew she couldn't. As of now, she possessed only the powers of the god Uxie. When she becomes of age, she would be able to possess all powers of the gods…

And it was only a matter of weeks, two weeks, to be exact, before her eighteenth birthday.

He'll pay for doing this to her… and for breaking her heart.

* * *

Sorry for the shortness. It IS a prologue, after all. Don't worry, I'll write more for the 1st chapter. Please do review. :D 


	2. Chapter 1: Conclave

Hello everyone! Sorry for the very late update. I've gotten sick for the past few days. Colds, cough, sore throat, sore eyes... ah, well. I'm feeling better now. I apologize for the lateness, as well as the grammatical errors that you may spot. My eyes still hurt, but anyways.

This chapter is dedicated to my significant other and I. For myself, because its my birthday today. :D For him, because he has helped me finalized the plot of this fic, as well as the other one. :3 Hope you guys enjoy this chapter as much as I did!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Terrene

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**Chapter 1: Conclave**

* * *

He was fifteen years old when he first met her, and their meeting was of great reluctance on his part. 

He dread on the fact that if he met her, his teenage hormones might trigger something in him… then suddenly, he'll break the promise that he made to himself three years ago just because of a beautiful face. Shinji didn't want that.

So off he went to Snowpoint Temple along with his escorts to meet up with the summoner of Sinnoh.

But, as soon as he had gotten there…

"I'm sorry, but the summoner is not to be seen by anyone." The guardian of Snowpoint Temple said. "I will have to ask you to leave."

He wanted to kill the woman. How dare she not know the face of the heir of Sinnoh!

Thankfully, as if the gods had prevented the woman's demise, someone had stepped out of the temple. "Please let him in. The summoner had foreseen his arrival." said one of the summoner's ladies-in-waiting.

"Ah. My apologies, my lord." The guardian lowered her head. "Please go right ahead."

_Damn right._ Shinji walked inside the temple.

"Welcome, Kaiser. The summoner is at the lower-most level of this temple. If you would please...?" said a priestess, pointing towards the stairs. "She has just finished her morning ritual."

_Great. What do they want me to do now?!_

When he headed for the stairs, his escort guards began to follow him, but he stopped them. "Stay here and guard the temple. I shall see her alone." The soldiers saluted and stationed themselves outside and inside of the temple grounds.

Shinji, heir to the throne of Sinnoh, made his way to the lower-most floor of the dreaded temple of ice wherein he had kept on slipping on the thin ice that had frozen on the tiled floors of the temple. So, when he had gotten to the summoner, he was bruised all over and was freezing his ass quite literally.

_DAMN HER! HOW DARE SHE DO THIS TO ME!_

He reached the lower-most floor of the temple… and he almost went on a killing rampage when he saw that the floor was literally covered with ice.

"Damn this… all for a summoner…" he mumbled under his breath.

"You don't like it here…?"

If he weren't so poised and cool, he would have jumped at least four feet above the air. Instead, the future Kaiser had his deadpan look on and cocked his head at the source of the voice. "Summoner." He said.

"Your Imperial and Royal Majesty."

The summoner bowed as low as she could. Currently, the summoner wore a v-shaped white robed wherein the 'v' stopped by her waist. The whole outfit reached her ankles. For her inner wear, she wore a white tube top dress that reached her knees. On the top-most part of her dress were red oblong-shaped jewels that ran vertically from end to end. The cuffs on her robe had the same design as the one in her dress. Same goes for the hood that concealed her head and part of her face. A necklace hung on her neck, its pendant a blue hexagon-shaped stone. For her footwear, she wore soft light pink knee-high boots.

"Rise." The girl obeyed and lowered her gaze.

Shinji frowned. "Look at me."

When she did, Shinji found a mask staring at him.

A Piplup mask.

She was wearing a ridiculous mask.

Was it to make him laugh, or to annoy the hell out of him?

He tried hard not to frown in displeasure.

"I'm sorry, Your Imperial and Royal Majesty, but I am not allowed to show my face to anyone except the priestesses until I am of age…" she spoke up, as if reading his mind.

"How old are you?" Shinji asked.

"Fourteen years old, sir."

_I see. So she's just a year younger than me._ "How long have you been living here?" he asked.

"Umm… six years ago, Mother brought me here so I could undergo some training. Then I started my training here then—" before she could continue her life story, the heir of Sinnoh raised a hand, as if to tell her to stop.

"Don't bother with it. I'm not interested." With that, he turned away from her. "I'll see you in a few years' time." the young man was just about ready to ascend the stairs when she yelled yet again.

"Hikari!"

He turned his head at her direction, as if to ask, _What now?_

"My name is Hikari. Please remember my name."

* * *

"A… favor?"

Three years had passed since their meeting in Snowpoint Temple, and three months had also past since the assassination of his parents. It had only been a month since his coronation as the Kaiser, yet his advisers had told him to propose already to the summoner of Sinnoh, just like what his later father had done before.

However, Shinji had another plan in mind, and he would want to start on it as soon as he could, since he had already gotten the signal from the advisers.

This time, he had extended an invitation to his palace in Veilstone City. She had accepted it, though it had taken her at least three months to convince the priestesses of the temple to allow her to visit Veilstone for just one day. As usual, she wore her summoner robes, despite the warm weather. Apparently, Hikari did not seem to notice the change in weather.

Currently, they were at the foyer, having a light afternoon snack. She hardly touched anything except for the tea that was laid before her.

Shinji nodded. "I need you to get rid of the seal inside me."

Hikari gasped quietly, but recovered from the initial shock. "I am sorry, but what you are asking for, Your Imperial and Royal Majesty, is impossible. The seal is to stay there until the moment of your death. Summoners are forbidden to remove the seal. Please understand that."

"… If I promise to you that I shall use my powers for the good of all, will you do it for me?"

"E-even if you say such…"

"Will you, then?"

He gave her a piercing look, which almost always takes her breath away, not to mention make her blush underneath the Piplup mask that she wore. She found it odd, really, that she had only met him once or twice. Was it because of the lack of males that she had been acquainted with? Probably. The Kaiser was, after all, the third male she had met in her entire life, right after Kengo, her childhood friend and Damion, her next-door neighbor back in Twinleaf.

But compare to her two friends, he was a lot more handsome than them.

Too handsome, in fact.

Damn him for having such an effect on her.

"Will you, then?"

She took a deep breath.

"Will you really promise me that you'll use the power of the gods for good? And if I do the unsealing, will you take the secret of it to the grave?"

"Of course."

Then…

"… I've made a decision. I shall do the unsealing ritual by next week." She announced to him. "Please meet me in Snowpoint Temple's lower-most floor early morning."

Shinji knew that victory was his.

As for Hikari, little did she know, she was going to make the biggest mistake of her life.

* * *

Now that she was rotting in prison, Hikari knew that she was never to trust any person again, especially that treacherous Kaiser of Sinnoh. Making a mental promise to herself to get even, the summoner of Sinnoh knew that the time would come for her to unleash a fury that was unlike any other.

The Kaiser would not end up like that jail guard she used Confusion against. She was much too kind for that.

He'll get a lot more than that.

She'll break every bone in his body.

She'll break every nerve in his being.

Worst of all, she'll break him.

Hell really hath no fury like a woman scorned.

'_Just you wait, my Kaiser. Just a week from now… you'll be so sorry you've tricked me.'_

* * *

As for the bit on Hikari calling Shinji 'Your Imperial and Royal Majesty, I got that bit from researching about the Kaiser of Germany. Apparently, that's what everyone calls him. :3 

Anyways, please do review and tell me what you all think of this chapter:3


	3. Chapter 2: Freedom

Thanks for all the reviews and for answering my poll. I'm glad that everyone likes this story very much. :3

An additional cast has been added for chapter 2. XD and no, it is not Drew or May. They have their own fic, so I won't let them steal the spotlight from our summoner and Kaiser. XD

Anyways, I hope you all like this chapter. It took me awhile to write this because I didn't like some of the parts I've written, so I made some major editing before posting this. :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Terrene

* * *

**Chapter 2: Freedom**

* * *

Shinji silently groaned at the arguing people before him. A week has passed since the summoner had been taken to the dungeon, and she was the one being argued about. All his political advisers were having a debate as to what they should do with her. Most had stood by their decision of letting her go as to not anger the gods of Sinnoh while the minority still wanted to have her rot in the dungeon for treason. 

"Set her free! She has done nothing wrong!" said Lady Candice Snowpoint.

"You call almost killing the Kaiser's personal guard _not_ wrong? Absurd." argued Roark.

"It was because she was being tortured! The gods are the ones avenging for her!" Gardenia shot back.

"That just means that her powers are out of control!" Byron, Roark's father, said.

"It is your fault that she is turning against us!" Maylene screamed back.

"ENOUGH!" Shinji banged his fist against the table. "I have subdued the summoner. She will not cause any trouble for anyone again. Are we clear on that?"

Some have dared to nod in agreement in him, while the majority was fuming.

"Dare I ask, Your Imperial and Royal Majesty, if you're still going to marry her?"

Everyone in the room stared at the person who had said such. Lord Volkner Sunyshore was the only one among the Eight who was daring enough to ask such a bold and sensitive question to the Kaiser and got away with it. When Shinji's gray-colored irises began to twitch, the blond commented further. "I cannot seem to comprehend on the fact that you torture your future wife so."

"My plans for her are none of your business, Volkner." He hissed.

"Suit yourself." He replied nonchalantly, looking a lot like he'd rather be somewhere else.

"Kaiser, if I may…" Shinji then turned his head at the newest Lady Hearthome, namely Fantina. "I would like to remind you that… the gods may not be too happy with what you're doing. Sooner or later… all of your plans may backfire." The purple-haired woman said. "The summoner might even try to kill you as soon as she is free from prison."

"That will never happen. End of discussion." The Kaiser spat out.

"What makes you so sure, then, Your Imperial and Royal Majesty?" asked Lord Wake.

"This."

Darkrai's silhouette appeared just behind the Kaiser.

"Y-you couldn't have possibly…"

"It is… lord Darkrai." Fantina bowed her head in reverence to the Dark god.

"But… how?"

Shinji sneered. "She removed the seal from my body. And willingly gave me Darkrai."

"… You tricked her." It was a statement, not a question that came from Lady Maylene of Veilstone City.

At the obvious smirk of the Kaiser, the Eight Sinnoh Lords knew that there would be more trouble up ahead.

Especially since the Kaiser was unaware that it was the summoner's 18th birthday today.

All Eighth Sinnoh Lords were aware of that occasion. It has been said that when a summoner was of age, the restriction seals placed by the priestesses on her body during the time she had been brought to Snowpoint Temple was to be removed so that the gods would have an easier way to channel their powers through her.

Despite the fact that it would make her more powerful and be almost god-like, it was not all that good.

Allowing more gods to channel their powers through her would mean that she was to become their puppet. Slowly, she would lose her emotions and become god-like, an opposite of what a summoner should be. It was said that a summoner roamed the region because she was to be close to the humans, to empathize with her fellow beings.

If worse comes to worst, she would become like a Kaiser of the olden times. Because of their god-like powers, they abused it to no end, causing pain and suffering to the people of Sinnoh. The gods had no choice but to punish the abusive Kaisers, as well as their descendants.

The summoner served as the mediator between the gods and the Kaiser.

That was to be her role. Nothing more.

* * *

"Happy birthday to me… happy birthday to me…" 

Still in the dungeon, Hikari was distracting herself by singing a happy birthday song to herself. She was finally eighteen years of age, yet… her powers haven't been awakened yet. For two weeks, she did her best to try and live through this day, despite the nightmares and tortures that she had gone through, yet there was still not solution for her predicament.

As much as the summoner had wanted to cry in desperation, she knew she could not.

She had to be strong.

Never show weakness in front of the enemy.

_Please… I need to get out of here…_

'Do you wish to be out of here, summoner?'

That voice…

_Lord Uxie…?_

'Yes. Now… do you trust me with your whole life, summoner?'

_Always, my lord…_

'Then… I shall grant you your freedom.'

"Thank you."

Suddenly, her eyes turned from blue to yellow gold. Azelf had taken control of her body, and was very much ready to break out. But first, the chains on her wrists and ankles would have to go. But that was the easiest part. Because Uxie was a psychic Pokemon, it would be able to bend the metal chains away from her body parts. Once it was done, the next thing to be done was to…

Erase everyone's memories of the summoner.

"Hey, mister!" called out Hikari.

The jail guard grumbled, and then walked towards her cell. "What now?"

Suddenly, she opened her eyes and made eye contact with the lone jail guard in the dungeon. "… Forget that I even existed, you filthy mortal."

When Uxie ceased to use its powers, the girl then hid behind the stone wall as not to be seen and cause quite an uproar when the guard would scream and ask how she had gotten inside the cell.

The jail keeper suddenly snapped out of his stupor. "Eh? What am I doing here? I should get back to my post!" quickly, he ran off.

'Summoner… it is time for Azelf to help you out.'

_Yes, my lord. Please, help me escape…_

Once more, her oceanic-colored irises turned into warm amber.

"This is what you get for doing this to me, my Kaiser. I'll make sure that I'll be the one to gloat at you when you meet your doom. The gods of Sinnoh would not respect you, nor do they believe in you anymore. They think you are not fit to be ruler… and I agree."

She stretched her arms from side to side.

"And this is my payment for your betrayal."

Her eyes began to glow.

"Uproar."

* * *

The Kaiser and the Eight Lords of Sinnoh were having yet another heated discussion regarding the summoner when suddenly, the floor shook violently. Most had grabbed unto the table before them, while the Lady Eterna screamed. "W-what's going on?!" 

"An earthquake…?" Lord Oreburgh remarked. "No… it is not an earthquake… rather, an amplified version of Uproar." He held much knowledge when it came to the study of the earth.

"The effects are this great?!" Lord Pastoria exclaimed. "How could this have happened?!"

"It is the summoner." Candice piped in. "I'm sure of it. No one could ever do such a thing as this one without the aid of the gods."

"How sure are you to conclude such a thing, Lady Snowpoint?" barked the Kaiser.

For once, the pigtailed girl lost her patience. "Well, Your Imperial and Royal Majesty, she did once live in MY city!" she snapped back.

Shinji stopped to glare at her, only to fall down on his backside because of the strong vibrations. "Damn that girl… what does she want now?!"

As much as he tried his best to move down the stairs, he was unsuccessful. A flashback of him slipping and sliding down the ice-frosted floors came to mind and he ignored that embarrassing moment in his life. Never would he allow himself to get humiliated by that woman again!

On the very last step of the stair case, he fell once more, rolling down the dungeon, until…

The dungeon, when he had last left it, looked… horrible. Because of the strong vibrations earlier, the walls had cracked and the soil from the underground had gone inside the cells. Part of the ceiling collapsed, while the floor was in an upheaval state. There were a lot of holes that were at least four feet deep.

A lone figure stood amidst the destruction.

The summoner.

"What have you done?" he asked as calm as he could possibly be.

The figure did not bother to face him, but he had a feeling that she was grinning from ear to ear, pleased with what she has done. "Kaiser… this is what you deserve. The gods of Sinnoh have spoken; you are not fit to be ruler. Is it not obvious that you are being punished?"

_Gods, this woman is a nut case. _"It is not you who shall decide justice." Shinji stated. "You are not a god… yet. Spare me the speech and surrender. I can have you killed this instant."

She laughed. "You? Kill me? Do that, and you shall be punished severely for your actions." She then hopped off a piece of debris. "I dare you."

Without a moment's hesitation, the young ruler took out his saber, but before he could even attempt to dash at her direction and try to mortally wound her, she began to yet hop from one debris to the other, making her escape. Shinji followed her, but couldn't, for he was having so much difficultly trying to get over a damn debris. She, on the other hand, did it like a pro and without fear either. One small mistake could be fatal, for if she slipped, she would fall down on one of those deep holes on the ground.

Apparently, his concern was now aimed at the summoner.

_"__JA NE!" _

That snapped him back to his thoughts.

Yet the Kaiser wasn't worried.

He knew where she would go next.

The summoner would go to Lake Valor to fully obtain the powers of the god Azelf.

Shinji headed out, ignoring the damage that had been done to his palace. He cared not if the dungeon had been blown to pieces. Just as long as the summoner wouldn't slip through his hands again, he would ignore everything else.

With that, he prepared himself.

He would follow her to the ends of Sinnoh if he has to.

* * *

Sounds sweet that he's gonna follow her and all that. XD Haha. Reviews please? 


	4. Chapter 3: Pursuit

Happy New Year to all! I'm finally done with chapter 3, and I'll have to warn you, there are spoilers from the future episodes of Diamond and Pearl which hasn't been shown in the US. D: So... hope you don't mind it. :3

Anyways, as for this chapter, it leans more to the humor genre, since I wanted to torture poor Shinji. XD it was fun writing that part, hehe.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Terrene

* * *

**Chapter 3: Pursuit**

* * *

Hikari wished she hadn't been so brash about leaving for Lake Valor. Somehow, she should have 'surrendered' first to the Kaiser, exploit what he would offer her then escape once more. But stupid, stupid her, she acted first before thinking! 

She was hungry and in need of new clothes. The tattered clothing that she was passing off as 'clothes' were so worn out, it was in danger of exposing things that were not to be seen by any other person except her. Thankfully though, it was getting dark, and no one was seeing anything 'private'. Her whole body had been marred with scars and she reek of, well, every disgusting thing she could think of. She smelled so much, in fact, no one dared to go near her, not even the wild Pokemon.

_I need new clothes… but before that, I need a bath._

The stench was getting to her.

She dare not take a bath in Lake Valor. Not only would it be disgusting, but it was like committing sacrilege.

"I think I know where to go…"

She would head to the Sendoff Spring.

* * *

Shinji, on the other hand, had just finished packing his things for his 'journey', which consisted of only a small backpack. A spare change of clothes and five Pokeballs were all he need. Oh, and of course, a lot of money. He'll need a lot if he will have to keep up with the summoner.

"Will you need any weaponry for your journey, Your Imperial and Royal Majesty?" Shinji shook his head. "Any instructions to be done while you are away, Master?"

"Fix the castle interiors at once." He said. "I expect those to be as good as new when I get back to Veilstone." His servant nodded, and off he went outside the castle.

Despite the fact that he exuded an aura that belonged to a ruler, the Kaiser knew that he should at least try and blend in with the commoners. If he was to find the summoner with the whole army or even his personal guards with him, it would be difficult. They would attract too much attention. Worse, the townspeople might even interfere. There were some who openly supported her, and would even die just to protect her from him.

In place of his Kaiser outfit, he wore a blue and black jacket, a black shirt underneath and baggy black pants. He looked every inch of a normal teenage boy who was out on a 'journey to become a Pokemon Master'.

_Crap. I've been watching too much TV._

He headed south of Veilstone, asking some of the trainers on the way if they had seen a girl going to the direction of Lake Valor. Some didn't answer, simply wanting to battle with him, which he obliged them with. Unfortunately for the challengers, no mercy had been shown by the young ruler.

There had been this one trainer, though, who had managed to answer his question. "You mean that filthy, stinky girl wearing rags? Of course I've seen her! She went off to the Sendoff Spring. I bet she'll get herself killed there or something."

"Why do you say that?"

The female trainer stared at him as if he were daft. "Where the hell have you been? The Sendoff Spring is the best place to train before you battle the Elite Four of Sinnoh! You DO get what I'm saying, right?"

Shinji nodded in reply, but not before trying to suppress the idea of killing the girl for being so disrespectful towards her sovereign. She could have at least told him in a nicer way, but no, she just had to act all haughty. "Thanks."

The girl rolled her eyes and continued on with her walk.

Shinji ran as fast as he could towards the Sendoff Spring. No, he was no worried for her safety; heck, she could simply utilize the power of the gods and knock out any creatures that wanted to harm her. If he would get there in time, he might just catch her and that way; he could just drag her back to Veilstone and keep her there forever with him.

… _That sounded wrong. Rephrase that, Shinji._

Whatever the case may be, as soon as he manages to find her, he'll effectively put her out of her misery, as well as his, once and for all.

When he got to the spring, he heard a rustling of bushes. Thinking it might be a Pokemon, he took out his Pokeball, ready to send out Torterra when he heard a voice.

"Piplup, you stay there and watch out for any suspicious-looking Pokemon or person or whoever. I'll be taking a bath."

Taking a bath.

A bath.

The words echoed in the Kaiser's mind over and over again.

_She's going to take a bath…_

He felt like dying suddenly.

The thought of it made him want to really, really peek at her, and he cursed himself for thinking such dirty thoughts. He was NOT supposed to think of such things!

_Face it, Shinji. You're a teenager. The person who is about to take a bath IS your future wife, despite the fact that you made that promise not to marry her._ The naughty voice in his head told him. _Besides, aren't you even tempted to take a peek?_

Gods of Sinnoh, he was turning into a pervert!

That was the last thing he had ever wanted to become.

He chanted a mantra. _I will not look. I will not look. I will not look…_

Despite the chanting, the teenager still did not manage to convince himself. And before he could even start exerting the self-control that he desperately needed, he found himself looking at the summoner…

Thankfully, it was dark. He won't be seen by her, nor will he see something that would be so explicit that he may never want to glance on a girl's body again. She started stripping off what looked like her 'clothes'. The haughty girl was right; it looked like rags. Done with the upper garment, she proceeded to remove the now brown-colored skirt which was colored a light pink before.

Despite the darkness, he could still make her out. She had a figure, but to him, the summoner looked much too skinny. Her whole body was covered with scars and bruises, something he felt guilty about, but he still convinced himself that it wasn't his fault. She had been defiant; therefore, she had to be punished.

Suddenly, she kneeled down and bended over to test the waters. "Hmmm… feels alright."

He saw her backside, and god-forbid, Shinji liked what he saw.

He thought that was the end of it, but the gods seemed to be having too much fun toying around with him and his out-of-control hormones.

They decided to tease him for the last time…

Slowly, Hikari turned to face Shinji's direction…

… And that gave him a full view of her naked body.

Shinji, Kaiser of Sinnoh, felt that he was going to suffer from a heart attack at the sight. Sweet Shaymin, his face felt so hot, he might as well cook something on it!

The gods snickered.

It was fun playing around with a human.

Especially if the said human happened to be a teenage boy with hormones that had just been awaken.

He averted his eyes from going past her chest and finally forced himself to look away. This time, it was successful, and now, the young man was trying to calm down his beating heart.

_I will never, EVER do that again_

'_But we both know you want to.' snickered his naughty mind, as well as the gods._

* * *

Hikari sighed as the warm waters soothed both her body and mind. It had already been two weeks since her last bath, and she needed one badly. Thankfully, she remembered being told by one of the priestesses in Snowpoint Temple a 'hidden fourth lake' near Veilstone and so, she decided to bathe in that 'lake' before heading to Lake Valor. Honestly, it'll be really disgusting if she dirties the water in the holy lake.

She scrubbed as best as she could, since there was no soap around, cleansed her intimate area, washed her hair just so the stench would go away and when she had been able to reduce the stench, she ducked, cleansing her body for one last time…

It might take awhile before she would have another bath…

When she resurfaced, she took her clothes from the edge of the spring and proceeded to wash her 'clothes'.

She had no time to be picky; clothes were still clothes.

When she gets to that hotel near Lake Valor, she'll steal whatever she can.

She was desperate already.

Everything had been taken from her. She was still not free from the Kaiser. For all she knew, he was currently pursuing her. Wherever he may be, the blue-haired girl wished he wouldn't detain her early in their 'game'. She had much to do first.

With her clothes now looking a bit decent, Hikari wore it immediately, ignoring the cold feel of it against her skin. If she didn't hurry to the hotel, she might catch a cold. As best as she could, the eighteen-year old, with Piplup in her arms, ran off to the direction of the hotel.

Desperate situations call for desperate solutions.

* * *

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!"

Hikari smiled guiltily to herself. Stealing was wrong, but she had no choice. Besides, the people staying in that hotel can easily replace the things that they lost. They have money, while she did not have any.

She knew it was also wrong for her to use her Pokemon to do the stealing, but it had to be done. She was tired and hungry, and she didn't have any strength to sneak around the bungalows and steal . All she could do was to rely on her Ambipom and Piplup to steal.

Both Pokemon ran off to the bushes where she was waiting.

"Thank you, Piplup, Ambipom…" she gave each a hug. "Thank you…"

Ambipom had done her job well. Not only did she manage to get a decent amount of clothing, she even got her a pair of sandals! Piplup had gotten some berries, but she knew she wouldn't be able to eat them. It was a Pokemon treat, after all.

"Go on, you two. Eat up. Then we head to Lake Valor."

While the Pokemon munched on the berries, Hikari sighed, trying hard not to think of the hunger. She really was hungry, but there was no food in sight. Berries, there were a lot, but no human food. To distract herself, she rummaged through the clothes.

Ambipom had gotten her a loose shirt, a pair of shorts and undergarments.

'_Well, this is better than nothing… when I start battling with the other trainers__ I'll have money to buy more clothes.'_

When the two Pokemon had finished eating their snack, she returned the two to their Pokeballs, stripped off her clothing to wear the ones she had just recently acquired and ran as fast as she could to Lake Valor.

The god Azelf was waiting for her there.

She should not make it wait.

* * *

The waters of the lake were glowing, as if anticipating the coming of the summoner.

'_It's time…'_

She knew what to do.

By the lake side, she kneeled, prayed to the gods and waited…

'Summoner.'

The god has materialized in the Pokemon world.

Hikari opened her eyes and bowed her head in reverence. "Lord Azelf…"

'You have come to seek my powers, is it not?'

She nodded her head.

A bright light surrounded the god and returned to its spirit form. It turned into a small amber ball and made its way to the girl, becoming one with her. The amber light suddenly shot up to the sky, signifying that the summoner had just come in contact with a god. At this, Hikari gave out a sharp cry and fell to the ground, writhing in pain.

The pain was unbearable. Probably more unbearable than the experience she had during her ordeals at the dungeon. It had already been years since she last received the powers of a god, and it seems that she had forgotten how painful the process was going to be. Slowly, the seals were being removed to accommodate the being that will 'live' inside her, but her body couldn't take it anymore.

It was badly injured physically, and it didn't need any more than that.

And so, she fainted right on the spot from the pain and exhaustion.

Several minutes after, Shinji, who had lost track of her, found her lying on her back. Somehow, he panicked at the sight and rushed to her side, checking if she was still breathing. At the sight of her inhaling and exhaling, he calmed down. The runes on her upper arms were glowing, indicating that the union between her and Azelf had been successful.

'_So she now has Azelf and Uxie…'_ he noted to himself, frowning.

As much as he was tempted to drown her in Lake Valor to end her life, he couldn't bring himself to do so. First, it would be boring to kill an unconscious person and second, it wasn't the honorable thing to do. Only cowards did such, and he was no coward.

"I guess she's alright." He muttered to himself. "I'll just bring her to a Pokemon Center and let her sleep. At least that way, she and I will both be in the same condition."

He crouched down to pick her up bridal style, but before he could do so, Azelf suddenly materialized itself before him. 'You are the Kaiser, correct?'

He stared at the god with a deadpan expression on his face. "What if I am?"

The psychic Pokemon shook its head. 'You have obtained Darkrai, it seems, though in an unjust manner. Why is it that you want to seek our powers badly?'

"That's none of your business." He snapped, holding Hikari close to him as he scooped her up in his arms. He then walked past Azelf, ignoring it and made his way to the nearest city from Lake Valor, which was Pastoria City.

The god stared at his retreating form. Humans were really strange…

But Azelf knew that the Kaiser was up to something. It still did not know what it was, but it wanted to find out.

Perhaps Mesprit would know what the Kaiser had in mind.

Azelf would just have to wait to know the answer.

* * *

Please review. :D 


	5. Chapter 4: Primary

Hello everyone! Thank you all for the reviews you've sent. It really made my day whenever I read them. :3 Sorry for the lateness of this update. School started in my country, and in the first week, I was drowned with so many things to read for my majors. (faints) Anyways, it was a good thing that I've started on this chapter before school started, and I just continued it when I had the time to type.

Without further ado, here's chapter 4!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Terrene

* * *

**Chapter 4: Primary**

* * *

The Kaiser reached the city of Pastoria at eight in the evening. The walk to the city was not easy, for there were pesky security guards who kept challenging him to battles. The money he had received from them, he decided, would be given to the summoner, for she needed it more than he did. Besides, he was the Kaiser; he should be the one who should initiate the donating to the needy and the poor. 

Shinji headed to the Pokemon Center. "I'd like two rooms." He knew it was very demanding of him to request two rooms because one room could already accommodate a party of four, but it was for the best. The summoner should NOT know that he was helping her out. The young ruler hoped that there weren't many who were staying at the center.

Nurse Joy shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I can't allow that. Surely, you and your girlfriend can stay in just one room? We are currently full because of the Pokemon Contest to be held in town."

Shinji swore in his mind but nodded. "Alright, but she's not my girlfriend."

The Pokemon Nurse raised an eyebrow, not entirely believing him. How could someone carry around a girl bridal style and not be boyfriend and girlfriend?_Kids these days… _The nurse then handed him the key to their room. "Would you want to have a late dinner?"

"No need." He bowed his head in gratitude to Nurse Joy and headed for the rooms.

* * *

As soon as Shinji had gotten inside the room, girl still in his arms, he was faced with a decision. Should he just leave her to fend for herself or should he just stay, propose a temporary truce and teach her how to live like every teenager out on a journey?

Funny as it may seem, the summoner had only been out of Snowpoint Temple less than ten times, as told to him by the priestesses. He remembered the conversation between him and a priestess, after his first encounter with Hikari…

"_She knows nothing of the outside world?"_

_My priestess nodded. "The lady summoner had been sent here by her mother at the young age of eight, as we have requested, and when milady first came here, she would not stop crying. The sight of the temple frightened her, it seems. "_

Not really. It was your fault to begin with. Why force an eight year old to stay here without a mother? _"And?"_

"_The only way for us to make her calm down was to let her play outside, within the vicinity of the temple, but even then, we made sure that she was to be kept in seclusion. It had only been recent since the people of Snowpoint found out that she is already here. We hid her because of fear that many will try to use her for their personal gains."_

I wouldn't be surprised. Power can really change the principles of people. _Shinji thought to himself. "When have you allowed her to roam around Sinnoh?"_

"_Just three years ago, when we have deemed her fit to obtain the god Uxie's powers in Lake Acuity." She told him. "But then again, even we had to accompany her and make sure that she does not get lost nor run off."_

_The last statement struck him. Did they think of the summoner as their puppet? Would they really stoop so low as to make sure that Hikari was to obey their every command? By restraining her?_

No wonder she'll be easily manipulated. You don't even let her think for herself. _"I see." He replied nonchalantly. "Any other times she had been allowed to roam around?"_

"_We accompanied her to a tour around Sinnoh just last year, Your Imperial and Royal Majesty. It had taken us a week to accomplish it."_

_Shinji nodded. "Anything else?"_

"_Other than that, none."_

_Somehow, he was starting to hate this whole summoner business. Not only were the priestesses idiotic, but it seemed to him that they were scheming old hags who wanted to gain something in return from the summoner they have kept in custody._

_He should know._

_His dear mother was a summoner before becoming a Kaiserin._

"_I see." He said. "I shall take my leave now. Please take care of the summoner in my stead. Good day."_

He had to make a decision now. Should he stay, or should he just leave her here to fend off for herself?

She knew how to go about in the world.

The priestesses said that she had seen much of Sinnoh already.

The summoner knew what to do. Despite the fact that she looks so stupid and weak, the Kaiser knew she was really smart and cunning. Hell, she managed to erase the memories of a jail guard, boldly used Confusion on another and even had the nerve to destroy his palace!

'_I'd better get to Lake Verity before she does.'_

He laid her down on the bed and placed the money he had received earlier from the battles beside her. "We'll see each other again, summoner."

* * *

Shinji exited the Pokemon Center, but not before asking the Pokemon nurse to watch over Hikari for a little while until she checks out. Nurse Joy nodded and said that she would take care of his 'girlfriend', earning a glare from the furious ruler. How many times would it take for that woman to learn that she was _not_ his girlfriend?

Like he cared anyway.

The young Kaiser made his way to Hearthome City that night, staying only in the city to have a snack then continued his journey to Lake Verity. When he reached Oreburgh, however, his body was slowing giving in to sleep and was forced to check in at the Pokemon Center. He was dead tired, and the gods know he needed rest.

He felt the sudden urge to buy food at the twenty-four hour convenient store just across the center because he was hungry, but decided not to. All he needed was a three hour rest, and he'll be good to go already.

Unfortunately, during his slumber, his stomach growled and he was forced to wake up and listen to the protests of his stomach. And so, off he went to buy two microwavable meals from the convenient store and proceeded to munch down on the rice meal. He was _that _hungry.

Fifteen minutes later, he was back in bed. He did not fall asleep, but he assessed the things he had done so far.

He had tortured the summoner, nearly starved her to her death, and she escaped with her life, probably promising herself to get even with him. Shinji made a good choice, after all. If he had stayed, he would've become a corpse by now, courtesy of her. Who knows what that woman was capable of? She was dangerous; more so if she would obtain Mesprit.

If she gets Mesprit, it would be all over.

That much he knew.

If he could and would, he'll have to obtain Mesprit before she could.

Before he could even think of a plan as to thwart her efforts from obtain the powers of the god, sleep overtook him…

* * *

The next day, Dawn woke up around lunch time. Despite the fact that she was surprised to wake up in a Pokemon Center, and not in the lakefront of Lake Valor, she was thankful that someone had been kind enough to take her to a nearby center so she could rest.

What nearly made her scream, however, was that there were a lot of paper money bills placed beside the pillow she had rested her head on earlier.

Who placed that there?!

HOW?!

_Oh gods…! Don't tell me that's the payment for one night stands?!_ Despite living a cloistered life, her mother had warned her about such _vile things._ Hikari wasn't as naïve as the priestesses thought; rather, she knew all about the boy-girl relationship like every other girl her age, except she hasn't had any relationship with someone from the opposite sex like most girls…

But then again, she had been in love before.

Unfortunately, he turned out to be someone who masqueraded himself as someone else who was the opposite. His real nature, as Hikari had discovered, was far from what he had portrayed to her. He was a scheming opportunist who took advantage of her powers. No wonder the priestesses were adamant about letting her see the outside world. There really were evil people who were out to exploit her!

She checked her body. Nothing seemed to be out of place, not even her clothes, so she deduced that nothing _really_ happened to her.

_Or maybe I'm jumping to conclusions… again. _Hikari sweatdropped and proceeded to 'punish' herself by banging her head against the pillow.

Cautiously, the summoner looked at the money that was lying beside her pillow. Nothing was odd about it. She was tempted to get it, for money was still money. Hikari needed it badly for supplies, a bag to put her things and supplies in it, toiletries and a new set of clothes. She thought about her Pokemon and decided that they needed a treat for working hard just to get her decent clothes. Piplup and Ambipom did their job well. As for Pachirisu and Buneary, they did their best to protect her from the Kaiser when he had decided to invade the temple and attempt to kidnap her.

Sighing, the young woman placed a hand over the money and began counting the bills. A paper that lay hidden among the currency caught her attention.

"Huh? What's this?" slowly, she unfolded the paper and began to read.

_Summoner,_

_May the money be of use to you in any way._

_-Shinji_

Her heart almost jumped out of her chest.

Definitely it was not a girl's name.

Before she knew it, her face turned a bright red.

_Shinji…_

This must be the one who had rescued and brought her to the Pokemon Center. Though she did not know what he looked like, in her mind, she knew he was handsome. Like a knight-in-shining-armor, perhaps? She would not know. The only info she had was his name.

"Shinji…? _Believe?_" For the first time in weeks, Hikari, summoner of Sinnoh, smiled genuinely. "I'll just have to believe in my knight then!"

The female totaled the amount to at least nine thousand folded the bills and placed it on the front pocket of her shorts. She was getting hungry, and this time, she would have to take advantage of the Pokemon Center food. Who knows when she'll be eating properly again? She had to seize the opportunity.

Hikari brought along with her four Pokeballs, which she had given to Nurse Joy for healing. "Lunch is being served right now. Please head to the cafeteria if you'd like to eat." She smiled at the younger girl.

She wasted no time in getting to the cafeteria. There, she got a plateful of spaghetti with two pieces of garlic bread, a chicken leg, and gelatin for dessert with unlimited water to drink. Hikari began to gobble up the spaghetti set in front of her, taking occasional, hungry bites on the garlic bread. She quenched her thirst frequently as well, and when the glass became empty, she stood up and refilled it quickly.

Hikari sat down again and resumed to wolf down on what remains to be her meal. The spaghetti and the bread were gone and now, she was mercilessly biting down on the chicken leg.

'_FINALLY, REAL FOOD AFTER TWO WEEKS!'_

After Hikari ate the gelatin dessert, she was smiling. "Gods, that was _good!_ Way better than that trash of a meal back in the dungeons!"

Despite the fact that she had been satisfied, she sighed sadly. "I wish there were more. I'm still hungry…" a frown replaced the smile, but had gone quickly when the girl thought of the upcoming dinner. Her mouth watered at the thought of it. "I hope the next city's Pokemon Center will serve something delicious…"

Right after her meal, she took advantage of the showering facilities. She washed herself thoroughly. She scrubbed using the soap provided by the center, shampooed her hair to get rid of the stench there that still reeked and rinsed. Hikari got dressed in her usual outfit and settled to tie her hair in a ponytail.

As soon as her Pokemon had been healed, she checked out and left the center, now heading towards the direction of Lake Verity. The journey would be long, but she knew it wouldn't be as tough as before. Her knight served as her inspiration so that she would continue to seek out the gods who would be willing to grant her their powers. Without him, Hikari would have probably started begging on the streets for money just so she would survive. Worse, she would have to steal again!

However, her money problems were over now.

'_Thank you, Shinji-kun…'_

Only one problem remained.

She clenched her fists. "I'll bring down the Kaiser, no matter what it takes."

* * *

Shinji had woken up at dawn and as soon as he had gotten ready, he left Oreburgh in haste, fearing that the summoner would get there before him. When the Kaiser found out that he was early, he wasted no time in confronting the spirit of the lake, Mesprit. Though it would have been impossible to confront a god without swimming towards the cave located at the center of the lake, it seems that the god was the one who had been waiting for the Kaiser all along at the lakeside.

'So you are the Kaiser.' It said. 'Though I may be the Being of Emotion, you are the only human whose emotions I cannot read.'

Shinji glared. "Whatever."

'Why are you so hostile, mortal?' Mesprit gave him a questioning look.

Shinji snorted. "Go figure." he said and rolled up the sleeves of his jacket. "I am here to take the powers that you possess by force. If you cooperate, I shall not harm you in any way. Resist, I shall hurt you."

Mesprit knew the human boy was serious. Though it had been hard for the god to read him, determination was evident in his eyes. Anyone could see that. Now, it wondered what gave Shinji the motivation to defy the gods and acquire their powers. Was it because he wanted to attain more power? It was possible. It had always been human nature since time immemorial to dominate others. Was he doing this because he just wanted to do such? It may be true as well.

Mesprit tried to read his emotions again, but to no avail. The boy never lets his guard down, even for a moment, and somehow, the god had a thought that the Kaiser was an unfeeling being. It scrapped the idea when he saw the gray-colored eyes of the boy.

Determination was reflected in the young man's body language.

What made him so determined to obtain the powers of a god?

What drove him to do such?

Who drove him to do such?

Even Mesprit did not know.

* * *

You might have wondered why Hikari went gaga over Shinji. It is because Hikari doesn't know his real name. When they had met, only Hikari gave her name away. Shinji didn't even introduce himself! That's why she's gushing over the Kaiser without knowing it. XD 

Anyways, please do review. :3


	6. Chapter 5: Failure

Sorry for the late update. I had to concentrate last week on the Nihongo speech contest, and the screening for the contest was held just awhile ago. I just hope I did good and make it to the finals. (hopes)

Anyways, I did my best to lengthen this chapter. I hope I also did well with the 'fight scene'. Fight scenes aren't my forte. So sorry if I mess it up.

This is kind of irrelevant, but when I was practicing my answers for the possible questions that might come up in the screening, there was this question wherein they asked as to what is the Japanese title of my current story, which should also be my current favorite. I chose Terrene, but unfortunately, there is no direct translation for it, so I renamed it  
地上の楽園. For those who are not familiar with the kanji, it is read as 'Chijou no Rakuen', which literally means 'Earthly Paradise'. XD

I think it sounds nice, don't you think?

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon

* * *

Terrene

* * *

**Chapter 5: Failure**

* * *

Suddenly, a familiar tattoo similar to that of Hikari's appeared on Shinji's right forearm and glowed a color black. Darkrai's silhouette appeared behind him and an eerie aura surrounding both god and human. If Mesprit had been shocked at the sight of the Dark god serving the Kaiser, it did not show. However, the Psychic god had a lot of questions on its mind for Darkrai. And somehow, the guardian of Lake Verity felt as if Darkrai had betrayed them and the summoner. 

'What is the meaning of this, Darkrai? Why serve another when you are to serve the lady summoner?' it asked calmly. 'I had not expected that you would trade your loyalty for this… worthless human for her.'

'It is not a matter of loyalty, but how I am perceived. She does not take a liking towards me. Your _temple_' spat Darkrai bitterly. 'had told her lies about how _dangerous_ I am, considering the fact that I was more than willing to lay my life for the summoner. She had given me away to a human whom I thought of to be more than worth to use my powers.'

Mesprit detected no lies in what the god had said, yet it felt… doubtful.

Something was not right…

Why would someone like the Kaiser have a god under his command? Was it not Dialga and Palkia who had prohibited the rulers of Sinnoh to obtain a god's power through a seal? What had happened?

"You seem as if you're wondering why Darkrai serves someone like myself who cannot even possess the powers of a god." Shinji smirked. "I'll tell you: your summoner removed the seals herself."

Mesprit tilted its head in confusion. 'I do not understand.'

"I shall express it through actions, not words." Shinji said in a mocking tone.

At this, the young ruler of Sinnoh aimed his palm towards the direction of the god and uttered two words.

"Dark Void."

A huge swirl of red and black energy gathered in Shinji's right hand and shot it at the direction of the god, but unfortunately for him, Mesprit had dodged it, though barely.

"Tch." He cursed under his breath. "I missed."

Mesprit stared incredulously at the youth. The way he had used Darkrai's power was like he was Darkrai itself! Usually, humans who had been bestowed with the powers of a god could only utilize up to sixty-five to seventy percent of their powers. However, this _prodigy_ had managed to use an estimate of eighty to eighty-five percent of the Dark god's power, a near impossible feat, considering the fact that he _was_ a mortal.

Mesprit knew there was a driving force behind the power that the Kaiser had shown, but what was it?

It wanted to know.

'Amazing how a human like you could manage to use more than three-fourths of Darkrai's power.' It said.

Honestly, Shinji did not know if Mesprit was insult him or complimenting him. "Thank you." Came the curt reply.

_Finally._ Mesprit was able to break through the wall that he had put up. 'I am merely complimenting you, human. Do not think of it as offensive.'

"Yeah, whatever you say." Shinji rolled his eyes once more.

The barrier heightened.

If only Mesprit could smirk right now…

Part of the intentions of the Kaiser was already known to the god, though it still seemed vague.

_At least, that is a start_ It told itself.

* * *

Hikari ate with much gusto for breakfast, since the center had pancakes and orange juice for today. What made it much more delicious was the fact that it was a buffet breakfast… and that was what she needed. She didn't care if all of the trainers were staring at her as she ate like a Gulpin. She was hungry, and her stomach was to be satisfied. It had to. 

Right after breakfast, she headed back to her room to take a shower. As she got dressed after her bath, she stared at herself in the mirror. The scars and fresh wounds on her face were slowly fading away, an indication that her body was slowly getting immune to such scratches. Her body was, after all, now a vessel for gods. Such imperfections were not allowed and so, it had to be 'removed'.

_I can't believe having a god residing in your body can actually be useful!_

The summoner got dressed in her brand new light pink shirt that had a picture of Bellosom in the middle and a pair of denim shorts that reached mid-thigh. On her feet were a pair of shoes meant for running, which had now replaced the sandals she had 'stolen'. She looked just like every young woman who was out on a Pokemon quest.

Right as she was about to comb her hair, she knew something was wrong…

Her intuition had been correct, for a voice in her head spoke when she was already ready to go.

'Mesprit is in trouble. Can you run as fast as you can to Lake Verity?'

She did not know who it was who had spoken, but it was a command.

"Nurse Joy, I must go now! Thanks for everything!!!"

Hikari did not wait for the nurse to speak up, for she slapped the room key on the desk and dashed off to the direction of the said lake.

She will not let the Kaiser win!

"OVER MY DEAD BODY, YOU BASTARD!!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, aiming it particularly at the Kaiser.

* * *

The battle between the spirit of Lake Verity and the ruler of all Sinnoh was far from over. 

Mesprit aimed a powerful psychic blast, Extrasensory to be exact, at the human. Shinji did not bother to dodge it and took the full hit, wanting to know if it was something he could withstand. Despite the fact that it felt like someone had just bashed his head with a hammer, the young man managed to stand his ground. He then wiped the blood that was dripping from the top of his head off his cheek and aimed his left hand at the direction of the god. A small black ball filled with dark matter was gathered at the palm and again, Shinji tried to aim it at Mesprit.

Again, the guardian of Lake Verity barely managed to dodge the said energy ball.

"Tch. Missed again."

Darkrai suddenly materialized from behind Shinji. 'Human, you seem not able to hit the Lake Verity guardian accurately.'

He shrugged in reply and said, "What can I do? Dark Void is not even a hundred percent accurate."

'Then, if I may, I shall finish off Mesprit.'

"Let me do it myself." Shinji snapped back, irritated. "Do not interfere, Darkrai."

'Fine...' the Dark Pokemon then contented itself in watching from the sidelines.

'_What are they planning now?' _Mesprit mused to itself, wondering if it should make a move already.

Shinji had put his trust on the next attack.

Slowly, he closed his eyes and gathered as much dark energy as his body could take. Darkrai, his guardian, was looking at him curiously, one of its bright blue eyes staring at its master. What was the human planning now?

Even Mesprit was curious as to what the Kaiser was to do next. Would it do yet another Dark Void? The Psychic god could easily dodge it anyway.

Suddenly, the young man opened his eyes, aimed both his hands at the direction of Mesprit and stared boldly at the said god.

"DARK PULSE!"

No escape.

The dark energy that he had gathered on his body suddenly burst and went flying in all directions.

Mesprit suddenly regretted not using Protect…

* * *

Hikari huffed and puffed as she finally reached Sandgem Town. Leaning against a wall for support, she sighed heavily. The running she did had served as her morning exercise, and frankly, she was alright with all the running. But really, was there any other way to get to Lake Verity without the need to torture her legs? 

"Mou… I'm so tired… I wanna sleep again… and eat…. And eat… and eat…" she mumbled to herself unconsciously, her aquamarine-colored eyes half-closed. Because she was really exhausted, her legs gave way and Hikari sat on the ground, trying her best to catch her breath.

It had only been a minute since her rest when suddenly…

'Get up, summoner! Mesprit is in trouble!' It was Azelf.

"W-WHAT?! WHY NOW?! I'm so tired! I can't run anymore!" she was starting to sound like a brat, but she had a good reason why she was whining anyway.

Suddenly, Azelf took over the summoner's body. Her body suddenly stood up and her aching feet began running at neck-breaking speed.

"W-what are you doing?!" screeched the young woman in her mind.

Uxie was brave enough to speak . 'Azelf just took over. Apologies in advance if you suddenly experience muscle pain after all the running.'

* * *

"Giving up? You're hardly any challenge for me." 

The Being of Emotion was trying its best to levitate, but failed to do so. It was feeling weak, and the Dark Pulse attack was just too much for it to endure, more so if the Dark element was its weakness. Just one more blast from the young man, Mesprit knew it would have to surrender and become part of the Kaiser. Just the thought of serving someone other than the summoner was enough to make Mesprit shudder in disgust. But then again, that was how the game went. The strongest will be able to obtain power, while those who were weak were to have nothing in return.

_I must escape…_ the lake spirit said to itself, growing weaker each minute that had passed. _I will not allow myself to serve this human!_

Out loud, it said, 'The powers I possess are not to be obtained by anyone other than the summoner.'

"Still having so much faith in that summoner?" Shinji sneered.

'Foolish human. What do you know?' It was getting agitated.

"What do I know? It is simple, really. I obtain the powers you possess and get on with my life as the Kaiser." Shinji snapped. "Summoners are not needed in MY reign as Kaiser, and the best that she should do is surrender. I will then extract both Azelf and Uxie from her, and let her live a normal life. Is that even too much to ask? I am even showing her mercy and giving her a chance."

'Apparently yes, it is too much to ask of her. She is a summoner, and her task is to eliminate you. You are much too dangerous.'

Shinji rolled his eyes and said sarcastically, "Wow. So someone like me, who only has one god under his command, is dangerous?"

Mesprit ignored the comment. 'Why are you doing this? What has the summoner done to you?'

"You won't understand. No need for any explanation." the young man said, readying yet another ball of red and black energy in his left hand. This would be the last shot.

It was to be the final shot, and Mesprit's powers were to be his.

Just as he was ready to blast the last Dark Void he could use for the day, a girl's voice had suddenly screamed, "Mesprit!!! Escape now!!!"

Both Shinji and Mesprit turned their heads at the direction of Hikari-Azelf.

'Azelf.' The guardian of Lake Verity nodded its head at the direction of the summoner whom Azelf took control over. Relieved at the distraction, it teleported away while the young ruler was looking away so it would be able to rest properly and even recover from the wounds it had received previously.

_Goddamn summoner…!_

He could _not_ believe that mere three words were enough to distract him from his current task.

He could also _not_believe that some stupid little girl had been smart enough to trick him once more.

Damn her! He was just about to obtain the Lake Verity guardian's powers and she just had to interrupt him?!

Shinji really wasn't one to accept failures easily. All his life, he had always been the winner in every game, as well as always having his way over everything. He was, after all, the most powerful man in the region. No one would even dare oppose him.

Except this stupid summoner who came in to ruin everything he had always been planning.

Frustrated at his failure, Shinji aimed and threw the ball of dark energy at the direction of the young girl, who suddenly screamed as she saw the Dark Void coming her way.

That was the best thing to do.

Let her sleep for the rest of her life.

Before, he had been lenient, and only let her go through a nightmare while she was sleeping naturally.

Now, she was to be subdued.

The only way for that to happen was to let her sleep forever.

Hikari glanced at the bloody Kaiser, who was glaring at her with his gray-colored eyes.

Her end was near.

She braced herself for the attack…

* * *

Yet another off topic thing: for those who are curious, this is the kanji for 'ikari'. 怒り. It means 'anger' in Japanese. XD 

So, ikarishipping angershipping. :3

Anyways, please review!


	7. Chapter 6: Intentions

Finally I updated! XD

I had fun writing this chapter. More than half of this chapter is filled with flashbacks, so please bear with me. But then again, you will finally know some of Shinji's intentions. Ayako, Hikari's mother, will also be in this chapter. :3

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Terrene

* * *

**Chapter 6: Intentions**

* * *

The attack hit her squarely on the chest. 

The attack wasn't as bad as she thought. Probably because Dark Void wasn't a psychic attack, it didn't hurt?

But then again, even if it wasn't painful, the effect will happen later, and that will hurt her, one way or the other.

Suddenly, her eyes suddenly felt heavy. The attack took its effect immediately, and despite her orders to her brain and body not to fall asleep, both body and mind defied her. She fell on her back and started dozing off.

Immediately, Darkrai's ability, Bad Dreams, took effect on her.

The nightmares she had gone through for the past two weeks were haunting her once more…

_A day after she had secretly removed the tattooed seals located on the Kaiser's back, she had told him to seek out Darkrai, the Dark god located on Newmoon Island so he would be able to have a god under his control. She knew that she shouldn't even give away a god she was to obtain, but there was no other choice… she didn't want to have such an evil god under her command._

_Darkrai, for her, was the odd one out among the many gods of Sinnoh_

_It would really be for the best if the Kaiser would have Darkrai under his command. He was authoritative, headstrong and intelligent. He would never be easily manipulated by that evil god!_

"_Darkrai? Is it not the god that causes Bad Dreams?" the Kaiser asked her after she had told him of her plans._

"_Hai!" she said, a little bit too perky._

_The eighteen year old Kaiser raised an eyebrow at her and said to the Piplup-masked girl, "… Alright. Thanks for you, summoner."_

"_Hikari." She replied, gently reminding him of her name._

"_Whatever." With that, he left._

* * *

_It took him three days to obtain Darkrai. He was the one who told her of it when he came to visit her once more in Snowpoint Temple._

"_So, how was it?" she asked. "Did you get Darkrai…?" she asked, lowering her voice this time as not to be heard by the priestesses._

"_It was better than I expected. Would you like to see it?" at this, Hikari screeched a bit too loud for her liking and when the Kaiser rubbed his head, probably because of a headache caused by her screeching, she started to apologize profusely._

"_I'm so sorry… it's just that… I... I fear lord Darkrai…" she said shyly._

"_Why are you afraid of it?" even he looked confused. How could summoners be afraid of the gods when they are the ones who are in constant communication with them?_

_Hikari decided that he should know of the 'fear' that she had been hiding from everyone. "Y-yes…it's like this, you see. The priestesses have told me that Darkrai is… evil. And that I should stay away from it if I can, and only as a last resort should I decide get it."_

_As she started babbling as to why the Dark god was evil, like the priestesses had told her, she did not notice the frown on the Kaiser's face…_

* * *

She suddenly twitched in her sleep.

Shinji went over to her. "Darkrai, what is happening to her now?"

The Dark god spoke.'She is currently remembering the time you and she had talked about me. She did not notice your scowl when she started her litany as to why I am evil…'

"I see…"

The Dark god peered over his shoulder. 'Tell me, why were frowning at that time?' the young man looked directly at one of the god's bright blue eyes, and despite the glare that Shinji sent his guardian, Darkrai wasn't fazed by it. 'I would like to know.'

The young ruler took a deep breath before replying. "… I was just thinking how bad it was that the summoner had been brainwashed by none other than those old hags." Hearing Darkrai chuckle, he continued, "She was eight when those priestesses had her under their care. My own mother was sent to the temple at the age of sixteen. Why is it that the current summoner was sent for during the time she was half my mother's age?" he asked to no one in particular.

'… So you think that there is something going on.'

"Something like that." The young man nodded.

The girl sleeping on the ground suddenly began to cry.

"What's happening now?" Shinji looked at his guardian.

'She is currently remembering the incident at Snowpoint Temple.'

"Ah, yes. The siege." He remembered the day when a fourth of the Imperial Army had marched towards Snowpoint City just so it would ensure them that the summoner was not to escape them. Unfortunately, the opposite happened, and it would take a few more months before Shinji had taken her as a prisoner…

* * *

_As soon as she got back to the temple that day after her usual morning stroll, the sight of blood on the floor made her shrill in shock and fright. What just happened?! Just a little while ago, she had asked permission from the head priestess to allow her to have a morning stroll just in the outskirts of Snowpoint City. Upon approval, the young woman took the Pokéball containing her Piplup and ran off as fast as she could… she did not want to waste the free time given to her_

_Everything that was happening now…_

_She could not believe her eyes._

"_Hi… Hikari…"_

_A voice!_

_She searched her surroundings, and when she found one of the priestesses calling for her, trying her best to support herself up using an arm, the summoner immediately rushed to her side. "Y-yes, mother?" she asked, tears threatening to spill down her azure-colored irises._

"_G-get out of here… as… soon as you… can…" the priestess gasped. "T-the Kaiser… he is looking… for you…"_

"_W-What does the Imperial and Royal Majesty want with me…?"_

"… _H-he… intends to… kill you…"_

_Hikari felt disbelief upon hearing such news. "W-What…? I-I do not understand…"_

_The older woman shook her head slowly. "T-there is no time to explain… l-leave Snowpoint… and hide…"_

_She had no choice. She had to leave. "I-I will…!"_

"_Also…" Hikari leaned closer. "… S-Summon… l-lord Palkia… and… Dialga… the Kaiser… must… be… st—"_

_With that, she breathed her last._

_Despite the fact that the seventeen year old girl wanted to cry her heart out and mourn for those who had sacrificed their lives to keep her from harm, she had to get moving._

_It was either life or death._

_She chose life._

_The young woman exited the temple through the secret passage that led to the route going to Mount Coronet. Once more, she had been lucky. If she had exited through the main entrance, no doubt, she was a prisoner right now._

_As the soldiers of the Imperial Army marched towards Snowpoint City, she fled the said city she had grown to love._

_There was only one place in the whole of Sinnoh where the Kaiser would never find her: Twinleaf Town._

_She would head there now, and be with her mother once more._

* * *

Hikari then began gritting her teeth.

'… She is thinking of her mother.'

"Ayako?" Shinji knew who she was, of course. They had met right after the Kaiser's first meeting with Hikari, and her mother was one of the few people whom Shinji highly respected. "Why is she thinking of her mother?"

'They are currently arguing in her dream…'

* * *

"_Mother, I can't believe you're defending the Kaiser!"_

_The mother and daughter were having yet another argument. Apparently, the summoner was badmouthing the Kaiser for the nth time because he had been the one responsible for the killings of the priestesses. Her mother had defended him, saying that he might have had a good reason for doing so and that was when Hikari snapped._

"_You tell me that it was RIGHT to kill innocent old ladies?!"_

_Ayako shook her head. "That's not what I meant—"_

"_Then stop defending him!"_

_The older woman heaved a sigh. "Since you are much too stubborn to even listen to what I have to say, then I shall just say this: some things may not be what it seems, Hikari. Remember that very well."_

_And the argument ended._

* * *

_The real nightmare began when she came home one day, only to find the Kaiser sitting comfortably in one of the couch of her house, along with ten of his personal guards standing behind him._

"_W-wha… h-how did you find me?!" she snapped at him, getting to her fighting pose. Despite the fact that she couldn't take them all down, it was better than surrendering._

"_I told him where you were."_

_Her eyes widen upon hearing the voice._

_Her mother…?_

_She told the Kaiser where she was right now…?_

"_I-I can't believe you would betray me like this, mother…!" she began sobbing heavily. "HOW COULD YOU?!"_

_Ayako stared at her, stone-faced and said nothing._

"_I HATE YOU!!!"_

_The Kaiser, on the other hand, rose from the couch._

"_Seize her."_

_Though they had managed to capture the girl, it took them a while to completely subdue her outbursts. While she screamed profanities both at Shinji and Ayako, Hikari kept punching the guards, some of them suffering horrible bruises on the face. She kicked them at places where they were most vulnerable. In he end, the Kaiser had been forced to put her to sleep using his own guardian…_

* * *

Shinji suddenly saw her thrashing about on the ground. Effects of Bad Dreams were manifesting through her actions, and even though he wanted to eliminate Darkrai's influence over her, he could not do such. His guardian was currently feeding on the dreams of the summoner, for it needed to recover, just in case there would be an upcoming battle. As Darkrai ate, its energy and power was back to normal, while its host was also healing the wounds he had received from the battle earlier.

The wound on his head was slowly healing.

Hikari was thrashing about on the ground, mumbling incoherent words.

'Her nightmare has begun.' Darkrai announced.

"Tell me about it." He replied sarcastically, slowly picking up the sleeping summoner from the ground so he could carry her bridal style. "Let's go, Darkrai. You've had your fill."

'Where are we going next?'

The young man of nineteen years uttered three words. "Back to Veilstone."

As his ward began to walk away from the lake front, Darkrai followed him. Apparently, it had more questions to raise. "What do you plan to do with this girl?"

He decided to be sardonic once again. "Marry her." Why was he stuck with a god who was nosy?!

'Really? When?'

How he wanted to slam his head against the bark of a tree.

As he journeyed from Western Sinnoh to Veilstone, he ignored Darkrai throughout the duration of the trip.

He had to get back home.

Both Uxie and Azelf need to be extracted from her body.

Once he gets past that stage…

Everything would be fine again.

No more summoner to bother him.

Right…?

* * *

Finally fixed the errors. I do hope this chapter had been nicely-written and entertaining. XD

OT: Oh, I'm a finalist for the Nihongo speech contest! Yay!

Anyways... please do review. :3


	8. Chapter 7: Shinji

Finally, I've updated! Sorry for the late update. I had to prepare for my speech contest, which was held last Saturday. Though I didn't win, the experience of it made up for everything. :3 And so, I go back to my fic writing. XD

This chapter, I think, turned out alright, but I had to rush it just a little bit because I know many of you have been waiting for this chapter. I've gotten a whole lot of reviews from the last chapter (thank you so much!) and that drove me to finish this chapter as fast as I could, with lesser errors on the grammar and what-have-yous. :D

Dedicated to my chapter 6 reviewers! Thank you!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Terrene

* * *

**Chapter 7: Shinji**

* * *

They had reached Veilstone City early in the afternoon. The Kaiser was tired from all the traveling and of course, from carrying the sleeping summoner in his arms. He then headed back to the palace as best as he could, despite feeling weary. Shinji made his way towards the east wing of the palace where the rooms were, chose a room that he knew was spacious enough and entered it. Inside was a huge four-poster bed, a table with two chairs in the center, a television set across the bed, a bedside table, a huge closet and a huge bathroom, complete with toilet and a huge bathtub. As soon as the young man laid her on the bed, he proceeded to take a chair, placed it beside her bed to watch over her. This was done because he didn't want anything bad to happen, especially since when he took his eyes off her, she had escaped him. 

It would not happen again, he vowed.

This time, he'll make sure that she'll stay put.

Darkrai, a witness to the event, now wondered what was going on between its master and the summoner…

It had known the boy when he had been younger. The boy's mother, now that it remembered the previous summoner, had been a kind mistress to it, even going as far as to obtain Darkrai first before any other god. Because of this, the priestesses had berated her. They thought of it as rebellious, and even went as far as to say that she was not fit to obtain any god other than that 'evil Darkrai'. Her role as a summoner ended right then and there, and she had been forced to marry quite early, at the age of seventeen, to the former Kaiser.

Even then, Darkrai did not abandon her.

It watched over her until the very day she had died from a planned assassination…

For the first time in its life, the Dark god felt sorrow, for it had not been able to do anything to help out its mistress.

But then again, it had been able to repay for its failure.

His current master was the son of the summoner.

'When will the ceremony begin?' it asked, referring to an ancient ritual passed down in his family line.

"Later. As much as I'd like to start, I cannot." He pointed at the girl. "I've ceased to use your abilities against her as soon as we left Verity and she still hasn't awakened yet?"

'It takes time for humans to recover from Bad Dreams, unlike Pokémons.' Darkrai explained. 'Given her current state, she will wake up… by evening.'

Shinji swore.

'If only you had been able to knock her out temporarily and handcuffed her with you, it would have made your life much easier.' Darkrai told him nonchalantly. 'Wouldn't it?'

Shinji shrugged. "I couldn't care less. My current objective as of now is to extract the two lake guardians from her." he reminded Darkrai. "And no, I have no intention of marrying her when I get back to Veilstone. I was being sardonic."

Darkrai somehow knew it was coming, yet did not comment on it anymore. 'If you say so.'

End of discussion for the both of them.

* * *

Shinji assessed the current situation once more. 

For the nth time, the summoner was in his possession. She was fast asleep because of the Dark Void attack, and despite the fact that the said move had been lifted, the blue-haired girl was still in dreamland. Though he may not show it, he was… concerned.

If she did not wake up, he would be forced to seek out Cresselia and ask for her assistance. Only she possessed the Lunar Wing that would enable the summoner to wake up, but like most of the Sinnoh gods, she was not fond of him. In her eyes, the Kaiser was the villain.

He didn't mind being the villain in this whole set-up.

Just as long as he would do this mission well was all that matters to him.

He made that promise to Ayako, and he intended to fulfill that promise.

He sighed.

This whole thing was starting to stress him out. All along, he thought this was to be a very simple case of restraining the summoner, extract whatever gods that she may have gotten during her pilgrimage and let her live an ordinary life. Right now, the exact opposite was happening. He couldn't even restrain her, he hasn't extracted any of the two gods that she had in her possession and he was also sure that someone like her wouldn't want to live an _ordinary_ life. Such was her destiny.

She was a summoner even before she was born.

She was a summoner who was to marry the Kaiser of Sinnoh.

He sighed at the last statement on his mind.

"You weren't even supposed to be mine…"

* * *

From one corner of the room, Mesprit's spirit was observing Darkrai, the summoner and the Kaiser. 

Right now, the Being of Emotion was trying to recover from the wounds it had received from its previous battle with the Kaiser, and the best it could do for now was to leave its body back in the cave in Lake Verity, protecting the said cave with a force field that hindered any human from entering it. Of course, since it was a spirit, no one had been detected it, not even Darkrai, a fellow god. It may seem strange as to why it was currently in Veilstone, but Mesprit merely wanted to observe the young human. The god found him interesting, for some odd reason. It was quite unusual for someone like him chase after a summoner. More so if he kept saying that he had no reason for that.

If that were the case, then why was he so obsessed with her?

The Psychic god thought for a little bit…

… Then suddenly, it perked up.

For some odd reason, the young man had let his guard down. Was it because of the tension and the stress? It must be, because from where the god floated, he could see that the human boy's shoulders were tensed up, and he was scowling more than usual.

No matter.

This was a perfect time to read his emotions.

Slowly, the jewel on Mesprit's forehead began to blow, as well as the red gems attached on its two tails…

'…_confused… what do I do…'_

'…_can't leave her…'_

'…_need to get back to Vei…'_

'…_am I hesitating…'_

'…_not mine…'_

'…_not…enough…'_

In a nutshell, the Kaiser was in a dilemma right now. He was undecided; he did not know if he would proceed with his plans or to just let her go. A strong emotion was hindering him from going with his plan of getting her to Veilstone, and for Mesprit, it strangely felt like… attraction. A bit of fondness was thrown in as well, but the attraction was definitely strong.

Could it be…?

It was not impossible, despite the fact that the Kaiser's emotions laid dormant.

Also… did it sound like he was… _concerned _for her?

It seems that there was more to the human than meets the eye.

He was concerned, fond and, Arceus forbid, attracted to the summoner.

Is that one reason why he was hesitating?

It may be one of the reasons…

Still… it did not answer the reason why he kept on chasing her, insisting that he would kill her as soon as he would seize the opportunity to do so.

The god knew that the Kaiser meant well, but…

What does he want to happen now?

* * *

She finally woke up at the stroke of ten in the evening, just as Darkrai had predicted she would. 

When Shinji saw her, he wasn't surprised at the way she looked. There were dark circles under her eyes, her eyes were puffy and bloodshot, and her dark blue hair was in complete disarray. It wasn't because it was a side effect of the Dark Void attack, but it was because she had been crying in her sleep. The repeated tossing and turning during her nightmare was the reason behind her disarray hair.

"You're awake."

She nearly jumped up at the voice. "Y-you…" she growled. "Where are you? I can't see." Her vision was still blurry, probably because of the huge amount of time it had been shut.

Shinji nearly raised an eyebrow, but decided that she was not lying.

And so, he took her hand. "Right here, summoner."

Despite the fact that she hated the Kaiser with a passion, Hikari couldn't help but blush a bright red.

"L-let go of my hand…!" she demanded, stopping herself before she would start enjoying the feeling of his warm hand hold her own.

"Very well." he complied with her request.

Somehow, she felt… disappointed.

Tensed silence filled the air.

'Summoner, do you wish to get out of this place yet again?'

"_Lord Azelf… of course I do. What ever made you think that way?"_

'… Nothing. If you must, distract him. We cannot allow him to win this time.'

"_Right. What do I do then?"_

'Any kind of distraction would do. As long as it would catch him off-guard…'

Mentally, she nodded.

Sighing, the Kaiser began to talk. "Let's get down to business. In a matter of hours, the ceremony will begin." He glared at her as soon as he saw her mouth move.

'_The ceremony, huh? Not in my lifetime, you don't.' _she knew what that meant, which was the extraction ceremony. Going through would that ceremony would mean her doom and that she had already given up on her situation.

She was ready to scream at him, but something better came up.

This was to be the perfect distraction!

Her lips suddenly curved into a smile.

Hikari opened her mouth to speak.

He had an inkling that she would protest, but her next statement complete caught him off-guard.

"Are you… marrying me?"

He nearly fell off the chair. What the hell made her think that way?!

Foolish girl.

Unknown to him, Hikari was smirking in the darkness.

"No. Why would I even do such?" he asked her, disgusted.

"… I thought you wanted to marry her."

Too late.

He had failed to notice that her blue eyes had turned angry shade of amber and before he knew it, he slammed against the door of the room. Because the psychic blast had been powerful, the door was destroyed and Shinji went slamming against the hard wall in the hallway. Despite the injury he had sustained (his back was hurting like crazy); he had managed to stand his ground.

Hikari-Azelf climbed out of bed and walked straight towards his direction. Despite the fact that the gods she possessed were at a total disadvantage compared to the one god that he had, there was still something in her that would make her win for the meantime. Before he could even try and summon his guardian, she had already made sure that he wouldn't even be able to do such.

What was it that she did, you ask?

She boldly kissed him on the lips.

Though it may have seemed like Hikari was just kissing him, inwardly, she was screaming at the two gods.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!! THAT WAS MY FIRST KISS! HOW DARE YOU GIVE IT AWAY SO EASILY TO HIM!!!" was what Hikari had screamed.

Uxie cringed. 'It had to be done.'

"NO!!! I COULD HAVE BLASTED HIS ASS AWAY, BUT NO! YOU JUST HAD TO KISS HIM!!!"

'And get yourself injured and helpless yet again?' Uxie asked once more. 'We would rather take control of the situation for now, even if it is against your will. We are overpowered by Darkrai, and unless you can obtain Cresselia, we will have to do whatever means necessary to subdue the Kaiser.'

"Yeah, but does THAT mean you have to kiss him?!"she asked hotly. "You could have done something else!"

The two gods ignored her.

Shinji, on the other hand, was disgusted.

He pushed her away, ignoring the mad beating on his chest. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Just giving you a little kiss?" she said coyly, though the real Hikari wanted to die right then and there. Why did Azelf have to flirt with him?! "Kiss me goodbye?"

With that, she gathered as much psychic energy that she could and aimed it at him. "Extrasensory."

The ruler tried to avoid the attack, but to no avail.

It had hit him full force, and for the first time since they've met, he started screaming in pain, clutching his head as he fell to the ground. Azelf had retreated back, and when Hikari saw him in such a state, somehow, a part of her felt sorry for him. He was in so much pain…

Were psychic attacks that bad when used on humans?

She did not know.

_You shouldn't even feel sorry for him!_

Mentally chastising herself for sympathizing with her enemy, she bolted out of the palace as fast as she could. The palace guards were coming, and she was not in the mood to face them. The sight of the Kaiser in pain was getting to her.

As she made her way to the main hall, she suddenly stopped in her running.

Dozens of palace guards were guarding the entrance. It was as if they have been waiting for her.

_Shit!_

When the summoner began backing away, one of the soldiers came up from behind her and seized her using his weapon, which was a spear. He placed the wooden part of the spear against her neck as a warning. The girl was ready to fight him, despite him being fully-armored, until he bent down and said, "Remain calm. I am not the enemy. Cooperate with me, and I'll lead you to safety. Is that understood?"

She nodded wordlessly.

Somehow, she knew that she could trust him.

He led her to the dungeons, the place that she hated so much, but to her surprise, one of the cells there actually had a secret passage out of the castle. Both of them had emerged just on the outskirts of Veilstone.

"H-how…?"

"That passage is the secret route of a Kaiser when there is danger inside the castle, and there is no way out, except the dungeon." The soldier told her.

"I… I see." Somehow, she found it ironic that the dungeon, the place where the prisoners were kept, was the place where a Kaiser would gain his freedom.

"You might be wonder as to how I know of it?" when she nodded, he chuckled. "In due time, summoner, do not worry."

"Alright then…" she held out a hand to her new ally. "I am Hikari. May I know your name?"

The soldier then removed his helmet and shook her hand. "My name is… Shinji."

* * *

Please review. :3 


	9. Chapter 8: Reiji

Hey everyone. Sorry for the very, very late update. I had a bit of problems real-life, but no author's block, alright? Also, I had to reassess this story's plot, and after a bit of brainstorming, I can say that I am back in business. :D

This chapter is a bit too short, but only because I was in a hurry to post this. I can't keep you all waiting forever now, can I? That would be unfair. Despite the fact that I didn't like so  
much how this chapter had turned out, I hope it will be bearable for you, my readers. I promise, the next chapter will be much, much better.

Anyways, without further ado, here we go!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. It belongs to its respective owners.

* * *

Terrene

* * *

**Chapter 8: Reiji**

* * *

He woke up in an instant. Despite the fact that he was now in his room, he wasn't calmed by it. Rather, he was angry. "Who brought me here?" he asked angrily to no one in particular. It wasn't possible that he had been magically placed on his bed.

Also, why was he in bed?

He did not need this right now!

He needed to chase after the summoner!

Before he could even manage to turn away the heavy blanket that draped over him, someone had spoken.

"That would have to be me."

That voice…

It was the summoner's mother.

A blue-haired woman whose thick hair reached her nape and shaped her face came forward towards the side of his bed and did a curtsy. "You Imperial and Royal Majesty." The woman said, giving him a reserved smile when she straightened up. Ayako wore an outfit that easily fitted her in the housewife category: a white long-sleeved short, pants that reached just below the knees and a red apron tied to her waist. "I apologize for my improper appearance. I had to rush as soon as I heard that you were injured."

The man in bed frowned at the action. "Ayako-san, you need not do that." The Kaiser informed her, referring to the curtsy that she had just made. "And you need not apologize for your appearance."

The woman nodded her head and went on with what she was about to say to him. "My daughter… what has she done wrong now?" her eyes stared intently at the young ruler of Sinnoh. "I have heard from the guards that she had caused this. What has she done?" Ayako asked again.

The young man sighed before replying. "… Used Extrasensory on me."

Ayako took a deep breath and shook her head, trying to control the rage that was shooting up in her body. "That child of mine…" the older woman stated, clenching her fists in anger upon hearing the news. "What does she want to do now?"

The purple-haired monarch shook his head. "I do not even know what the foolish girl wants to achieve in her life, much less what she is planning." There was a hint of bitterness in his tone. "That face of hers can fool even a cunning person. Is it because of the gods that live inside her that made her such?"

Ayako shook her head. "Though I may be her mother, I do not even know my own child. She… Hikari has been forcefully taken from me by the priestesses of Snowpoint when she had been a child of eight years. They hurt her when resisted… slapping her and calling her a 'witch' if she wasn't to be set straight…

"Despite the fact that I complied with their wishes, the priestesses forbade me to see her, saying that I would be a nuisance to her training, and that I would at fault if she strays from the path planned out by them. What kind of person would dissuade the mother of the summoner from seeing her daughter? Have I done something wrong to the gods that they punish me?"

The Kaiser shook his head to keep himself from falling asleep yet again, as well as to say that he was disappointed. The headache was distracting him. "You have not. It is just because those old hags are too greedy. They know of—" he stopped suddenly.

"Know what? Please tell me."

The Kaiser knew the secret had to be let out soon enough. "It concerns her… and everyone in Sinnoh."

* * *

Hikari raised an eyebrow at the name.

Shinji?

Was it possible that he was the same man who had given her some spare change during her flight from the castle? The blue-eyed summoner knew that such a possibility was low, but it didn't hurt if she had asked, right…?

"Would you mind if I ask you a question, Shinji-san…?"

"What is it?"

"Would you have happened to remember me? I mean… there was one time when I ended up in a Pokémon Center, then someone named Shinji had given me a bit of money… that wouldn't happen to be you, would it…?"

As soon as she saw him shake his head, she knew that he was not the person who had helped her. Nevertheless, the summoner had a lot of questions in her mind, which she had asked him almost immediately.

"Why are you helping me? You are a member of the army. Why?"

The man named Shinji sighed and said, "I am not a member of the Kaiser's Imperial Army. That was a disguise. I wouldn't be able to infiltrate the castle without it, right, summoner?" he gave her a sardonic look.

Hikari suddenly felt stupid.

"I-I'm sorry for that… stupid question but…"

"Don't mind it. Anyways, we're going back to Veilstone." He announced.

She suddenly stopped on her tracks.

What the…?!

Was her hero not what he seems to be…?!

"W-what? You want me to go back to that… that place where I had been held in prison and tortured?!" she nearly shrieked, causing some Starly, sitting atop the nest, to fly away in fright. "What are you planning?!" suddenly, her eyes turned amber, ready to strike him with a psychic blast.

He held up a hand, frowning at her. "I am not as stupid as you think I am by handing you back to the Kaiser. We are taking shelter in the home of Lady Veilstone." He said. "It would be less suspicious that way."

"… Are you so eager to get that Lady Veilstone into trouble? If they find me, she'll be charged with treason, you know." She stated.

"I am aware of that." He snapped irritably, surprising even himself. He was known as a calm person, but really… this girl was getting on his nerves. "My wife will not get into trouble easily just because of you. She's far smarter than that."

Hikari raised an eyebrow. "I see." So he was married to someone very important, namely the overlord of Veilstone City. "If that's the case, then shouldn't she be on the Kaiser's side? I mean, she IS the overlord of his city."

"Far from it, summoner. The Kaiser has hated her ever since she had taken her place as both the Gym Leader and the Lady of Veilstone City. The hatred worsen when she stood up for you during a meeting with the other Lords and Ladies of Sinnoh." Shinji explained. "So now… Maylene decided that she'd rather protect you than give you up to the Kaiser."

Hikari shook her head. Why was everyone risking their life for her? She was merely a summoner. Added to that, the Kaiser, whose mother was a summoner like her, wanted to have her killed. "I still don't understand why he wants to have me killed…" she told her companion, hoping that he would answer her question.

"… You'll understand it sooner, rather than later. For now, just concentrate on surviving tonight. We might never know what will happen tonight."

Hikari was not surprised.

With all the uproar she had done since Day 1 of her imprisonment, she would not be surprised if the Kaiser sent out his whole army just to get her, drag her back to the dungeons and tortured her to her death. Someone was risking their lives to shelter her from her death. She would just have to cooperate with them…

"Alright." She nodded at him. "Please take me to the Lady of Veilstone's mansion."

* * *

"… What becomes of my daughter?"

"As long as she does not make contact with Mesprit, she will be safe." Shinji told her.

"W-what can we do to prevent such a… catastrophe?"

"I have commissioned the Pokétch Company in Jubilife City to make me an exclusive watch to track down the other gods. And I am not talking about those Pokétch that the trainers have." He stated. "It will be a one-of-a-kind application that will update me on the status of the gods, whether it is sleeping or playing, as well as where it is exactly located. Also, it will tell me if it has made contact with the summoner."

Ayako nodded thoughtfully. "I understand. So… somehow, you can always tell me where Hikari would be."

"It will only be the case when she comes into contact with a god. Or if she becomes the host of the god."

The summoner's mother nodded her head. "I understand."

"Also, I have to inform you of something very much important…"

"Yes?"

"… Are you aware that your daughter has three paths to choose?" as soon as he saw the puzzled face of the blue-haired woman, he continued, "That girl has three paths to choose from: either she is a witch, a summoner… or a sorceress."

"A… witch." Suddenly, she was reminded of what the priestesses told her about Hikari becoming a 'witch'. "I have a vague idea about it."

"For what I have heard, the path she will choose will depend on how she would handle situations, as well as her emotions. From what I remember, my mother used to tell me that there are other forms for a summoner to choose from. It will all depend as to what path she will take using her emotions." He said. "Please do not worry. I shall research more on the subject matter. I will not let anything harm her."

"Thank you very much." She bowed in gratitude.

As soon as the woman bowed waist-deep, a knock on the door was heard. "Excuse me, Reiji-sama. The physician is here to check up on you. And you cannot object to this, Your Imperial and Royal Majesty. We have to ensure that our ruler is physically and mentally fit." said the royal valet, seeing the dark look on his lord's face.

"Fine." He said sharply. "Make it quick. I have to do something else, other than lie down in bed."

Ayako sweatdropped. "Errr… R-Reiji-sama, you shouldn't hurry yourself… if your body gives in to stress, it'll take a longer time for you to recover. You wouldn't want the summoner to get ahead now, right?" she said, hoping that he'll take the bait. For many years now, Ayako was aware that anything that was connected with Hikari, the Kaiser had always taken seriously, or with a challenge. As much as she did not want to admit it, the young man was obsessed with her daughter.

Not that she was allowing it… but as long as he kept his hands to himself and not molest Hikari, she was fine with his… obsession.

"Fine." He gave in, much to the delight of the valet, who was used to his lord resisting any chance of a check up by the royal physician.

Shinji nodded numbly, signaling that he was ready. The valet nodded his head and left the room to fetch the physician.

Ayako chose this time to leave as well, leaving the ruler of Sinnoh completely alone in his bedroom, thinking about his next plan, but not before curtsying and saying, "Please excuse me, Reiji-sama." before leaving the room.

**'_What are you planning to do next?'_ **Darkrai asked, appearing by his bedside as soon as Ayako had left the room.

"… I will find Mesprit. The summoner is not anymore important. No sense in keeping her alive." His eyes darkened suddenly.

"I will end her life."

* * *

"I know that it is much too late in the evening, but we can't waste anymore time."

_Damn right!_ A foul word entered Hikari's mind as she found herself standing on the ground, barefoot, wearing a _karate gi_. A few minutes ago, she had arrived at the home of the Lady of Veilstone, and as soon as she had stepped a foot on the dojo-like manor, she had been handed a _gi_ by Shinji, telling her to wear it and to go out in the back of the manor as soon as she was done wearing it.

She was greeted by the sight of a garden, and as soon as she had stepped on the grass, someone had said, "Please take off your shoes first. It would be better if we work out with no shoes on."

A pink-haired lady wearing a predominantly blue with black designed top and jogging pants had appeared from the shadows. "Welcome, summoner. I am the overlord of Veilstone City, Maylene." She bowed. "First thing's first."

Without warning, the lady in front of her suddenly disappeared…

… only to appear again in front of her to deliver a punch at Hikari's gut.

In an instant, Hikari was knocked out.

Maylene blinked and laughed nervously. "Oh… I think I punched a bit too hard… and I thought she would at least, you know, dodge it…" she scratched her head.

Her husband sighed exasperatedly.

This was going to be tough.

* * *

Oh, I hope the chapter was alright. D: Please do review and tell me what you think!

And yes, probably many of you are confused right now. XD;;; gomen nasai.

* * *


	10. Chapter 9: Training

Whew. I'm finally done with this chapter. Its a very long one, around 5,000 words or so, longer than my usual chapters. I made it longer since I know that I may not be able to produce a chapter easily. And so, I decided to make Chapter 9 as long as I could write it.

NOTE: I have decided to revert their names back to Japanese. When I have time, I'll be revising the previous chapters just so they could have their Japanese names back. Example, Maylene will now be referred to as Sumomo from this chapter onwards. Pokemon names, City/Town names and Character names will now be in Japanese. The exceptions would be the name of the gods, so the readers won't be confused. Hope you guys forgive me for the abrupt change.

Major thanks to Hidan no Jashin for always beta-reading my fics, for giving me ideas and for the late night chats just so we can discuss and make this story more interesting. Thank you! :3

This fic is dedicated to the active posters of SPPF's Ikarishipping thread. You know who you are, girls/guys (if there are guys. XD). :D Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Terrene

* * *

**Chapter 9: Training**

* * *

Shinji sighed to himself as the last of the check-up was finally done. He had done a blood test, thorough-check up through a full-body scan, as well as a physical exam.

_At least there isn't a psychological test this time_, he thought, dreading the stupid test wherein the Royal Household Agency had gotten a psychologist from the Kotobuki City Hospital to ask him about his love life, which was very much non-existent. He did NOT have a girlfriend, nor did he want to get married. However, as a Kaiser, it was also his task to ensure an heir to the throne, particularly a male heir. An heiress was not as important as the male heir, for there was the summoner to be considered, and that would mean he would have to try and try until he gets the needed male heir.

Disgusting.

The thought of bedding the summoner was enough to make him heave all of the food he had eaten.

_I can't believe I have to do that. _He thought darkly to himself.

Before he could even continue with his private monologue, his train of thoughts were interrupted by the physician.

"Your Imperial and Royal Majesty?

He looked up suddenly and gave the physician a look that told him to continue with what he was saying.

"If I may say so myself, sir, you have looked better than ever. I have never seen you so alive since your dear father and mother have passed away, sir." The physician beamed happily. Shinji was not surprised. The physician treating him right now had been the same old physician who always checked up on him ever since he had been a baby.

He blinked, however, thoroughly confused at what he had just said.

What did he mean by that…?

Thankfully, a follow-up question came. "May I ask as to what has been happening to His Majesty lately?"

"… Nothing much, though I am busy at the moment. The summoner is taking up my time." he said, referring to his summoner hunting.

The royal physician nodded thoughtfully, then said, "Then I must extend my gratitude to the lady summoner, for making His Majesty feel very much alive and looking very healthy for the past few days."

Shinji, meanwhile, shook his head.

It was official.

The royal physician has gone senile.

He ignored what the doctor had said after awhile, until…

"… bed rest for a week… until then…"

"Excuse me?"

"I recommend that His Majesty have complete bed rest for a week. And you cannot decline this. I will personally check up on you for that whole week." He reminded him sternly. "The Royal Household Agency has asked me to do this, and you cannot overrule them, please remember that."

He growled angrily to himself.

Since when did some bunch of people overrule the Kaiser?!

He cursed his ancestor, most especially the arrogant one who had starved the people of Sinnoh, made them even poorer and did unnecessary killings in order to justify his rule. No thanks to him, the Royal Household Agency was born, and was the one who kept the Kaiser in line whenever he made a decision. However, when it came to the summoner, even if the Royal Household Agency would frown down on what course he would take, he wouldn't care.

The summoner was his business, not theirs.

Speaking of the summoner…

His mind suddenly drifted to the night before he had found himself on his bed.

Odd, his heart was beating madly against his chest.

…

She kissed him.

…

She kissed him?!

…

His left eye started to twitch, and unknown to him, he was blushing faintly.

What the hell was she thinking when she did that?! Stupid girl. Shinji knew that she was probably gloating at him right now because of that little deed. She was probably proud of herself to render him speechless and even fazed, if only for a few seconds.

As if on cue, his heart began beating madly again, and the scene replayed on his mind…

_He never knew that psychic attacks were THAT painful._

_The dungeon guards had their own fair share of that pain, but combine that psychic attack and her fueling hatred for him added more pain than the usual. He had found himself flying some feet from the side of the bed and as soon as he had slammed against the wall, the young man gritted his teeth in pain. He would NOT allow himself to yell out in pain in front of the summoner. He would not give her the pleasure of even thinking that she had overpowered him, even for a moment._

_He had managed to stand his ground, and when he saw her walking over to him, he knew that he was going to be a dead man if he didn't do something about it._

_He was about to summon Darkrai to his side._

_Unfortunately, she beat him to it._

_Before he knew it, she had kissed him. On the lips._

_Soft, warm lips covered his own, and for once in his life, he experienced mental block._

_He had no idea what he was going to do next._

_He was at a total loss._

Damn her.

_Shinji pushed her away as hard as he could, mustering the best disgusted expression he could. Silently, he wished that she wouldn't hear the violent beating in his chest._

"_What the hell are you doing?" he remember himself yelling at her._

"_Just giving you a little kiss?" she said coyly. Perhaps she was trying to sound cute, or, dare he say it, 'seduce' him? "Kiss me goodbye?"_

_The next thing she said nearly sent him to a coma. "Extrasensory."_

_And, to his embarrassment, it was that said attack that made him scream out loud in pain._

He sighed out loud.

He was going to have his revenge. And very soon at that.

"Sir, the madam who left earlier had informed me that you have bruises on your back. Can you please unbutton your shirt so I can check the injury?" Shinji did what the doctor had asked and turned his back to the old man.

"Reiji-sama… since when did the markings disappear?"

"A little over a month." He did a mental count of the weeks that have passed.

"… I don't believe it."

"What do you mean?"

"Your father, sir. When he had been the Kaiser, your mother told me that she had removed some portions of the seals on your father's back… but in your case… the whole seal was removed? That's… amazing." The physician nodded his head. "Did the summoner do this, Reiji-sama?"

"Yes."

"… She is talented then. There has never been a summoner that I know of who had been able to remove the whole seal that belonged to a Kaiser." The older man informed the ruler. "Only a god is able to do such, sir. Did you not know of it?" he asked again, once he noticed the look of pure surprise and horror on the purple-haired young man's tanned face.

"Unfortunately, no." came the reply.

When his bed rest was over, he would have to give the Royal Library a visit. A thorough research is to be done.

When the exam was done, the physician asked, "Is there anything else that His Imperial and Royal Majesty needs?"

Shinji nodded his head. "Send one of my personal guards here." As soon as the physician had exited the room, one member of the Kaiser's personal guards came running in, and had stopped by the bed side.

"You have called for me, Your Imperial and Royal Majesty?"

"Have someone get the Pokétch I have requested in Jubilife. Contact the Royal Librarian, tell her to locate every material that has a connection with summoners in Sinnoh. I don't give a damn about those from Hoenn, she should only give me materials about the Sinnoh summoners. I want those summarized in a week's time. Understood?"

"Yes, Your Imperial and Royal Highness." The soldier bowed.

"Good. See to it that I am not disturbed. " He waved away the soldier and stared at his four-poster bed. One week of inactivity. Even if he was against this, he had no choice. If the Royal Household Agency had been the one who had decreed his 'house arrest', defiance would mean punishment, and he knew his limits. Even if it means that for a week he could not see her, Shinji was fine with that.

He might as well sleep for the meantime so he could recover fully.

Before he drifted off, his brain had wondered as to why he felt down when he realized that he was not to see her for a week…

* * *

It was only until early morning, around half past five in the morning or so that the summoner DID wake up, and as soon as she did wake up, someone had grabbed her arm and started dragging her. She protested, screaming even, but no one seemed to go to her side and help her. Even that Shinji…

_Damn, where the hell is he? _She thought darkly, feeling really, really murderous right now. She wanted to go hide somewhere, instead of even being in the Lady of Veilstone's Manor, for somehow, in the back of Hikari's mind, she knew that no one would beat her up if she was to go hiding somewhere. She had received quite a huge bruise when she had stepped a foot inside, and she was NOT going to get herself killed here.

"DAMN THAT SHINJI! WHAT IS HE PLANNING?!" she muttered angrily to herself.

The person who had grabbed her arm had hauled her up to her feet.

Hikari balanced herself, wincing because of the cold breeze that passed her way.

Apparently, the karate gi she was still wearing was not enough to keep her warm.

_"Ohayou gozaimasu!"_

Hikari raised an eyebrow and turned her head at the direction of the speaker. It was the pink-haired lady from before. Suddenly, she gave the lady a glare. "Well, aren't YOU the one who knocked me out yesterday. I'm surprised that I even managed to wake up in the morning. For all I know, you're just going to send my ass back to the Kaiser."

The older woman shook her head. "I have made a promise with Reiji-sama that I will help you out. I cannot back out."

"Reiji?" she echoed.

"Yes, my husband… or as you know him, he is called Shinji."

Hikari nodded, confusion still in her mind. "I don't get it. Is his first name Shinji and his second name Reiji?"

As if on cue, the man whom she had called Shinji the night before appeared before her. "My real name is Reiji… but for my own safety, I am to be called Shinji."

Hikari nearly screamed in shock and fear.

The man who had saved her was the exact replica of the Kaiser. The only difference was their skin color and their eyes. While this Reiji person had a fair complexion, the Kaiser was tanned. While Reiji had brown eyes, the ruler of all Sinnoh had gray-colored ones.

"O-o-oh my god…!" she said out loud. "Y-you…!"

"Surprised that I look like the Kaiser?" a smiled tugged at his lips. "You shouldn't be, Hikari-kun. It is not a surprise that I am the brother of the Kaiser, yet I am his **older **brother. You look so shocked. Why is that?"

"H-how come he's in the throne…? And… not you…" she managed to say, despite the big shock.

Before Reiji could explain as to why it had happened, the summoner had provided the answer for him. "A-ha! I knew it! He pushed you off the throne and declared that you abdicated, didn't you?! Figures!" she said, then proceeded to her rambling. "That man would really stoop THAT low just so he could get what he wants? What. An. Idiot."

Reiji chose not to clarify what she had said.

What matters the most was that she knew little of that issue, and he knew that it was not in his place to speak of it.

Sumomo, his wife, changed the topic. "You are probably wondering why you were brought here, lady summoner. It is because I am to train you to fend off for yourself." She explained. "Yes, we know that you have both Azelf and Uxie at your disposal, but I am afraid that it is not enough." She said quickly, as soon as Hikari glared at her again.

"Excuse me, but I can take care of myself." The blue-haired girl looked very much offended.

"If you say so, then why was it that you were captured a second time?"

Hikari sighed. They had a point, after all. "Fine. I concede. What do you want me to do?"

Sumomo's ruby-colored irises lit up. "As you know, mastering a martial art takes half of a person's lifetime. There is no shortcut when it comes to learning it, but in our case… we have to hurry this up. Basics and advanced forms, as well as kicks and punches, will be taught to you, and it will all depend on your skill, and how your body can cope up with the harsh training. We can be done as early as a week, but this can drag on until the gods-know-when. The choice is yours.

"Are you willing to undergo this training? I can guarantee that when you are done, you will at least be able to hold your ground. You cannot rely on your guardians all the time. Even if you use them against the Kaiser, you will get mentally and physically exhausted, and that will put you in danger.

"Let's say you want to use Azelf against the Kaiser. Yes, you get yourself boosted, but there is a limit to what you are doing, isn't it right? Lord Azelf's power is not unlimited. When he does not possess you anymore, the scenario would be you on the ground, exhausted, and the Kaiser towering over, glaring."

Before the older girl could elaborate, Hikari rubbed her head in irritation. "Fine, fine. I get it. I'll go through with the training. I'm not the summoner for nothing, you know." She then smirked. "I'm prepared. Do your worst."

Sumomo nodded. "With great honor, my lady." She said, bowing to the blue-haired girl before assuming a stance. "The martial art that I shall be teaching you is…"

Hikari held her breath.

"It would be Taekwondo."

Hikari wasn't very much familiar with the said martial art, but she knew that it was the one that used the feet more than the fists. She was fine with that set up, for she didn't like punching so much. Kicking someone in the face was something she had always wanted to do…

Most especially if she kicked a certain Kaiser's face.

She grinned with glee.

Oh, this was going to be so much fun when this was all done.

* * *

Hikari decided that she spoke too soon.

She was in pain right now.

Currently in Day 03 of the martial arts training, and, she looked like she had been through hell. Her hair was in a total mess. It always stood up, no matter how much she tried to use a hairbrush to bring it down. She did not have time to use Pochama, for her training started at 4 AM, and if she was late, she was to do ten sets of jumping jacks, pumps and squat thrusts. The first time she had been late, she could barely stand up after doing all those, and at the end of the day, which was a 3 PM, Hikari was unable to walk back to the manor. It had taken Etebosu, Pochama, Pachirisu and Mimirol an hour to move her back to the manor, and when she had already able to crawl, she headed straight to the bathroom to take her bath, have dinner with the couple and sleep until it was time for her to start with the training again.

Hikari was currently kicking a punching bag filled with sand and was trying hard not to grimace in pain. Both her instep have had multiple bruises over it, some were over the other. One of her toes on her right foot was colored a dark purple, a blood clot from the day before, when she had a sparring match with Sumomo, complete with the armor, headgear, arm guards and shin guards. Her arms were filled with bruises, but some were yellowing, signaling that it was healing already.

"Kick harder!" Sumomo snapped.

Hikari did what she was told, biting her lips as not to cry in pain.

'_Summoner, are you alright?'_ Azelf has the gall to ask.

'_Oh, everything is just so perky! My feet are probably turning black in a matter of days!' _she replied sarcastically, blood boiling at a dangerous level.

'_Calm down, you two. This is better than nothing at all. We can't let her get captured.'_ Uxie spoke up, breaking the tension.

'_Damn right! I'm not your prissy summoner who needs a knight to save her ass! I can do this on my own!'_ as if she had been revived with maniac energy, the girl began kicking the bag furiously. Apparently, she had only managed to do so when she had been _blatantly_ reminded how her first kiss had went. Regardless, Sumomo had been smiling from ear to ear after the session and had decided to end the training at 1 PM.

Tired and exhausted, Hikari decided to sleep all of the pain away until dinner time.

The same routine went on.

A week had passed, and before she knew it, her arms were forming muscles. Her reflexes were sharper as well. Her punches were enough to shake the leaves out of a small tree. Her kicks were able to break four 6-inch thick pieces of wood, and she was now at par with some of Sumomo's students, mostly those from the high blue belters. At least she was halfway with what she was learning…

Still, she wanted this to be done and over with.

The summoner still had an issue to score with the Kaiser…

* * *

Shinji had set out for Mio City as soon as he was given the go signal by the Royal Household Agency. During the time he was confined to his bed, he was studying the way Mesprit moved using the Pokétch he had commissioned for. Mesprit, it seemed, moved from one location to the other after a day or so. Its pattern was predictable, for whenever midnight strikes, it would immediately move to another location, and for this week, it was in Eastern Sinnoh. Right now, it was settled in Route 218 in Western Sinnoh, and will only be there until the stroke of midnight. Right now, he was at Kannagi Town for a quick rest, then head to Mt. Tengan. There, he would do his best to get through the damn cave that connected it with Hakutai City. It was already nine in the morning, and it took him four hours just to get to the town from Tobari City, what more if he goes through the damn the mountain?

Taking a last sip from his tea, he set off to the entrance of Mt. Tengan to confront the last of the lake guardians and submit it to his will.

Unfortunately for Shinji, he was NOT happy about what had transpired on the cave located at the foot of the mountain.

It was already proof that what happened inside was the gods' revenge against him for maltreating and abusing the summoner, their 'maiden', as she was always referred by the gods. Some god (Shinji had suspected Giratina) had played a mischievous trick on him and made him go in circles for a full hour before letting him out from where he had started. Of course, he had gotten pissed over this.

Next came the herd of Geodude and Zubat that had greeted him just as he was about to exit (He knew it was either Dialga or Palkia who had done this, for they live in Mt. Tengan). Despite the fact that he had called out both Eleboo and Dodaitose to knock out the enemies, he was unsuccessful in doing so, and before he knew it, all of his Pokémon have gotten knocked out. He had no choice but to run. Fortunately for him, he was quite athletic, and he had managed to dodge every single attack.

Well, except for Supersonic, that is.

And add Rock Throw as well.

It was enough to knock him down, but not strong enough to knock the living daylights out of him. Sure, it made him bleed, but he wasn't even dying.

Not now, anyway.

And so, the usually short Route 211 that takes an average of an hour to cross had taken the Kaiser four hours. The gods currently had too much free time in their hands and had found it funny to make the defiant ruler their current play-thing, if only for a little while. Also, combine the fact that he kept going around the circles and the exit was blocked off by the herd of Geodude was enough to make him waste so much time.

Shinji had gone livid once he had been able to get out of the cave. He was tired, hungry, pissed and was in a very foul mood. The trainers that had wanted to battle him started to approach, but one icy glare thrown their way was enough to make them shrink in fear. As if it had been like a plague, the news of a 'purple-haired ponytail trainer' striking fear in every trainer spread throughout the area, and everyone was casting their eyes elsewhere.

As Shinji began his walk once more, suddenly, time stood still.

Trainers stopped moving, those in battle stopped giving their commands, and the Pokémon ceased to move as well.

Shinji knew that only a god could stop time.

"Show yourself!!"

Mesprit appeared before him, its face nearly touching the young man's.

It spoke only four words.

'You look worn out.'

His patience had suddenly been thrown out of the window.

The tattoo on his right forearm glowed madly, a dark aura surrounded the man, and to Mesprit's shock and surprise, the aura grew larger and larger, and enveloped Shinji. It seems that Darkrai was on the boy's side, but why? _What made the Dark god take the side of the antagonist,_ Mesprit mused. Unlike the summoner, the Kaiser had limited powers, and most of the time, the Kaisers could not utilize the powers that a god had to offer. But when it came to Darkrai, as it had noticed before, he was able to muster a huge amount of energy in one Dark Void attack. Yes, the seals have been removed, the Kaiser had made it clear, but a summoner could only do so much as to remove a few of it…

'_Every seal was…!'_

The Psychic god used Protect on itself when the dark energy suddenly became erratic. It could not afford to be hit. The Dark element was its enemy, after all.

The dark energy that had surrounded the young man suddenly disappeared with a blink of an eye, and there stood the Kaiser, but at the same time, he was not the Kaiser…

Why, he looked just like Darkrai, though in the form of a human.

The purple hair was gone and was replaced by platinum locks that reached the middle of his back. The said hair also covered his right eye. A red, tattered scarf that had a concave shape on the front was wrapped loosely on his neck, the material billowing behind. A long black mandarin-style trench coat covered his body, and when the clothing reached his waist, it was unbuttoned all the way down, billowing, as well tattered-looking. Black loose pants were what he wore inside the coat, as well as black boots that reached his knees. On the shoulder part of the trench coat were wing-like shaped clothing.

The most noticeable feature of the Dark god was not his outfit, but his aqua-colored left eye that shone brightly in the still-time dimension.

"Ah, Darkrai. You took possession of the human." Mesprit stated. "This rarely happens."

"… You pushed him to his limits." A statement, not a question.

"Then he should not have pushed the summoner to her limits as well."

"And why should he not do such?"

Mesprit shook its head. "You will not understand…!"

"Try me." Darkrai-Shinji pressed on.

"Everything… must be in balance. Press her too hard or she is much too good, the results are disastrous. That is all."

"I do not understand."

"You don't need to know." with that, Mesprit levitated away, trying its best to run away. Darkrai had the advantage, and even if it tried to use its Normal-based moves, it was useless. It zoomed past the still trainers, all the while avoiding the Dark god.

Darkrai-Shinji, however, had another thing in mind.

He flew as high as a hundred meters above the ground, gathered as much dark energy as it could and burst the small dark ball into a hundred or so. "Give it up. You are no match for a Dark type. See the humans and their Pokémon? They'll be food for me." Slowly, the dark energy had hit the two living creatures, entering into their system. Despite the fact that time stood still, the life energy of both human and Pokémon were being drained slowly…

The Being of Emotions suddenly cringed.

The feelings of the humans and the Pokémon…

It was screaming at it loudly.

They were all in pain.

"I will not allow this to happen to the humans and their partners!"

Mesprit decided to do something that it has never, ever done before.

Though the Dark type may be its weakness, it decided that it would have to bear it…

… And throw back the nightmares that both humans and Pokémon were feeling using its Extrasensory skill.

Mustering as much energy as it could, Mesprit recalled back all of the dark energy that had made its way to the humans and Pokémon. Slowly but surely, it was working. The dark energy ball was now swirled violently in front of the god, and it tried its best to retain it in that manner and position, careful not to burst it, resulting into a very, very disastrous situation that it did not want to think of.

'_Focus…!'_

At once, the Psychic Pokémon closed its eyes and focused all the energy it had… the shot it was about to make was a one time, big time hit. If it failed, it would be over.

"I told you, it is useless…"

"_Extrasensory!"_

Despite the fact that the attack did not, in any way, affected him, Shinji was in for a big surprise himself. The Being of Emotion had somehow managed to mix both the psychic attack and the nightmares that were being experienced by those hit by the Dark Void attack. Contrary to the fact that nightmares were greatly welcomed by Darkrai for its nourishment, too much of it could be a bad thing… most especially if it had a host, particularly a human.

Apparently, the Dark Void attack had backfired on its caster.

Darkrai-Shinji was suddenly felt like he was sucked into a hellish domain that was impossible to break into.

His life suddenly flashed before him…

"_Don't go!"_

_What the…_

_Shinji saw himself, his younger self, around the age of ten… begging?_

_He remembered._

_That was the first and the last time he had been on his knees, begging, lowering his pride, just so the most important person in his life wouldn't leave him._

"… _Remember, you are not Shinji anymore. You are…"_

_That day…_

_The day he had been 'reborn' into someone else._

_He was to be renamed Reiji now._

_Shinji… was a thing of the past. He was discarded, to be laid forgotten by everyone who had known him. The only ones who knew, rather, remembered that Shinji was 'alive' would be his brother, his mother and father, Ayako and that woman..._

_Only they knew of his true identity._

"_Have we not told you that you are no longer going to be called Shinji?! Reiji! You will only respond to the name Reiji! How many times to we have to remind you of that?!"_

_His father had yelled at him those statements when he had refused to be called by his brother's name. Of course, being the stubborn child that he was, Shinji had refused._

_His brother had betrayed him._

_How could he leave the responsibility of the whole region in the shoulders of a ten year old who had not been groomed for this? Why, Reiji has been taught everything he needed to know about Sinnoh, the gods, the summoner and even the myths his whole life! The younger one, on the other hand, had not been forced to read thick books until now._

_He hated his brother for doing this to him_

_What had he done to even deserve this stupid predicament?_

_He did not even want this to happen._

_He only meant to be the second son, and never the Kaiser._

_He felt uneasy ruling Sinnoh. Not only did he felt like he had stolen what his brother's was rightfully, but he had also inherited something that wasn't his to begin with, namely, the summoner._

_She was never his to begin with. She… she belonged to his brother._

_That was before he had married _that woman_, but still, the summoner was never his…_

_Though there had been too many cons than pros, he was still grateful that he was the current Kaiser._

_He had met her for the first time at the age of fifteen._

"_Shinji-kun… the summoner… my heiress… take care of her and protect her… she… she is… unique…" _

_And for that, he would have to fulfill his promise with his mother._

_Shinji vowed to protect her, even if it meant that he was to be the villain._

_He will make sure of that._

"_Do you feel better now, Your Imperial and Royal Majesty?"_

_It was a day after she had removed the seals. As soon as he had woke up, that was the first thing that had greeted him. That, and her smile…_

"… You care for her."

The nightmares ceased at once, as soon as Mesprit had spoken.

Darkrai-Shinji had chosen not to reply to the statement.

"I am surprised that you have been able to withstand the trials I have given you: the maze in the cave, the running, the herd of Pokémon chasing your way… why, you've been able to face your own nightmares and fears."

"Shut up already." Darkrai's host called out.

"Your intentions were clear to me, however, and even if you try to put up walls right now, it is useless. I have read them all." Mesprit felt its spirits soar when he saw the look of dismay in the young man's face. "Nevertheless, I am relieved to know that you give a thought about the summoner, despite what your actions tell the gods.

"Though the summoner might find this strange, and probably the gods might disagree with me, they know better than to be mistrustful of me. Very well then, human." Mesprit closed its eyes once more, transforming into the familiar amber-colored ball. "I have decided that you are worthy. You have passed my trials, no matter how tedious it was on your part…"

_No kidding._ Darkrai-Shinji spat bitterly to himself.

"I shall join you."

The amber-colored spirit ball made its way in front of the young man, but before he could even grasp the spirit ball, Darkrai-Shinji had fainted right on the spot. Slowly, time went back to its normal pace, and the afternoon sun that had graced the Route before was now replaced with the night sky. As soon as the human hit the ground, his features went back to normal. Mesprit made its way into Shinji's body, becoming one with the Kaiser and fulfilling the pact. Unlike the summoner, who was rolling on the ground in pain upon the contact, he made no indication that Shinji was in pain. A cause of this was probably exhaustion.

"I'd never see the day that one of the lake guardians is joining the 'bad side'." Darkrai's spirit appeared suddenly.

"I'd never see the day that the Dark god would even think of using this human being as its host." Mesprit remarked as well, its spirit appearing on the normal world. The runes that were on Shinji's right arm bore the proof that Mesprit had chosen him as its master. The tattoos on both his arm and forearm were also glowing.

"He is the perfect host and candidate for me, I'll have you know." At once, the remaining dark energy in the area began to surround Darkrai, giving it nourishment.

"I am puzzled as to why your host had fainted when the nightmares hit him. Darkrai, you feed on nightmares!"

"It is simple, really. He… we had consumed too much of it. Too much of a good thing is bad, do you not agree?" the Dark god nodded. "It is good now, because my host is currently exhausted. He needs to replenish both his physical and mental energy again."

"Is he alright, by the way?"

"Of course. He doesn't need to get checked by those human healers again. I can feel that he is quite alright…"

Amber light suddenly shot up in the sky.

"And the three guardians of the lake have finally been contracted…" said both Darkrai and Mesprit. The two of them looked at each other.

"Soon… it will happen."

* * *

While Hikari was having dinner with the couple, she suddenly jolted in her seat and felt very much uneasy all of a sudden. Despite the fact that she had been hungry some minutes before, for some odd reason, her appetite was gone. Her beef and bowl of rice were suddenly forgotten on the table. "Excuse me, but I don't feel so good right now…"

Ignoring the calls of Sumomo and Reiji, she headed upstairs to her room and stared at her dresser mirror.

"What… what just happened to me back there…? What's with this uneasy feeling…? I hope it'll go away…"

She prepared for bed right away, knowing that a good night's rest helped calm down her nerves. It would also clear her mind, as well as to help her relax a bit. She offered a wish, hoping that the uneasy feeling would die down when she wakes up.

It did not happen.

Something had gone terribly wrong, and she had no idea what it was.

* * *

Notes:

Mio City - Canalave City

Hakutai City - Eterna City

Ohayou gozaimasu - Good morning

Etebosu - Ambipom

Pochama - Piplup

Mimirol - Buneary.

Okay, about that Royal Household Agency... I based it from Japan's very own _Kunaicho_, more commonly known as the Imperial Household Agency. Like the one in my fic, their function is to manage the affairs of the members of the royal family. :D

Before anyone goes violent on me for not choosing a Japanese sport for Hikari to learn, then I'm sorry. Despite the fact that there is the internet for research, I do not think it is enough. I chose Taekwondo because I've tried this sport, and even if I have only reached a blue-colored belt, I've had real life data as to how training would go, as well as how the kicks are done. Forgive me for not choosing Aikido, Karate-do, Naginata-do or even Kendo. Maybe in the next fic that I'll be writing, I'll go for any of these sports. XP

For any more questions or anything terms you didn't understand, drop me a review or a PM!

* * *

And we're done. Too lengthy? Too short? What do you guys think of this chapter? Has my 'standards' dropped, increased or did not change? Please tell me in your reviews! :D


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